The Hunger Games:Invasion
by JonFaulkner
Summary: Katniss has won the battle to liberate the Capitol but now she has to fight to save Panem altogether. A girl with a very familiar name turns up at Katniss' doorstep, the start of a dramatic roller coaster ride of emotion, courage and passion. 27 Chapters, 105,000 words
1. Chapter 1

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 14

**Chaper 1**

Since the day of the uprising the districts have tried to get back to normal but it wasn't how I would have imagined. Despite the terror that Snow had over the people he did hold some sort of order.

I miss the community spirit, those who had to live each day as it came, those who had to horde contraband to sell at the Seam. The peacekeepers didn't just cart the unfortunate to the reaping, they didn't just drag loved ones away from their families they kept order and it will take a long time to forget and some people are not happy about change.

Peeta and I have been together for 3 years, times are still hard, it's taken years for the Capitol to hold some form of monetary system and the districts are still struggling. Snow was right, the Capitol was the beating heart and since that day it doesn't have the feeling of a head district anymore, the President is doing her best but there is just a sense of people having no direction, no meaning, no real purpose.

I still hunt, not only does it help me try and forget it also brings in much needed food, I can't sell it like I used to, that was some of the fun, now it's to feed our family. Peeta still bakes and we have tried to grow crops but our district doesn't yield well and we have to spend what we have to get flour and vegetables.

I remember the days where all I would think about was my sister, my mother and missing my father, things were much simpler then. I hardly see my mother she is still in 13 helping with medical duties. I haven't seen Gale since he came to Snow's office, I still hate him for what he did and I try to imagine he wouldn't have sent the hovercraft where it was, perhaps it wasn't pre-meditated and he had no idea who would die. When he was taken by the Peacekeepers I couldn't shoot, I knew that he would be released before anything would happen to him, sometimes I just wished I had fired my arrow to save myself the suffering.

Peeta still has flashbacks but I can handle them now, he tends to just wander off into the forest when he feels like one coming. I know he won't hurt me now, he know's what's real, and not real but I feel his pain. Something that tears you up inside and won't go away, no amount of drugs can help that.

I still wonder what might have been had I killed Snow as I was supposed to, Coin was as strong as Snow but despite her cold appearance and nature would things be better than they are now. I heard a couple of weeks after the arrow that most of the council had escaped the Snow mansion. They were only yes men anyway, most just agreeing so not to fall foul to his poison.

It is the fall and the trees are losing their leaves, our youngest Willow has a temperature, medicine is still expensive and I can't just walk to my mother for help, I would have to join the queue anyway. After a week she is no better and we agree that one of us has to go find help. Peeta disappears one morning; I see a note on the kitchen table. "Katniss, our children need their mother more than me; I will go to the Capitol to get the medicine we need".

Two hours after reading his note Peeta comes through the door, his face as white as it was when he was chosen at the 74th Hunger Games reaping. Only this time he wasn't frozen. His face almost in tears moved to the side of the door. 2 men dressed in black long coats with almost knee-high boots and dark hats walk into the room. I take a step back and look at Peeta.

He can't speak; he looks across at the children's room. I pray that neither of them are witnessing our fear but there stood in the doorway is Rye. I want to tell him to go inside and close the door but before I can a young lady pushes her way between the 2 men.

She is dressed well, almost Capitol like. I recognise her but I don't think we have met, not in any of the districts anyway. She looks at me and smiles. I know that smile; I feel my face almost wash away of colour. I fall into the chair behind me. Peeta just stands there, his eyes glance over to me before looking away, I don't know what he has been told, but I wouldn't have to wait.

"Katniss, how are you", the girl takes a further step forward making the comfort space between her and myself almost unbearable.

"Do you recognise me?" there is silence in the room for what felt like hours but was only a couple of seconds. She continues "No— Well I will enlighten you". "My name is Celestia". I immediately feel faint, I want to pick my children up and run.

"Celestia Snow. I want you to know what you have done to Panem". You have crushed the economy, you have ruined the running of the country and you have killed my Grandfather" she says. "I didn't kill your Grandfather" the only words I could let out with my breath.

"Yes you did Katniss, you and your people who had no idea what they were doing set him up to die. Don't make me try and believe you wanted to kill Coin. He made you kill Coin as she like so many of your friends betrayed you." She said.

"You started the uprising and it was you who ended it, do you think things can just go back to normal. Well I will tell you now, you will pay for what you have done, you, your family and district 13" she adds.

She then turns around and heads back between the two men and out through the door. "Sooner than you think" she shouts, the Men turn, bow their heads and say "Miss Everdeen" as they close the door behind them.

I look at Peeta "What does she mean, what is happening". "I don't know Katniss, but we have to leave and quick" he replies.

That night we attempt to sleep but we both kept waking each other, the vivid nightmares that I had in the first games came flooding back, I kept seeing Celestia's smile - what did she mean by revenge and more importantly how would she do it.

Peeta tried his best to comfort me but I could see deep down he was as frightened as I was, I could see him hurting and what made it worse was he was still trying to recover from the hijacking. I think we managed 3 hours between us, we were in no shape for what lay ahead of us but we had to pack as much as possible and leave our home.

It didn't take long to gather our belongings; in light of a new era we still didn't have much, we manage to fit our clothes and a few of the children's toys in one bag. We locked the windows and put away as much as we could in the cupboards before heading for the door, I take one last glance at our home not knowing if we would ever see it again. As we walked down the path I turned and saw the last remnants of Peeta's primroses and then it suddenly dawned on me, buttercup!

As much as I dislike the cat apart from the flowers he was my only reminder of my dear sister, in this house back in Victors Village he was my only friend for weeks he helped me get through it, he was the only closure I had. It was buttercup that received my anger when it really should have been Gale. I found another bag in the bedroom where he was and reluctantly picked him up, as always he didn't agree with this and let out a loud hiss. He didn't put up as much of a fight as I thought he would; though perhaps he knew something was wrong.

District 12 was still under reconstruction but the main communications were one of the first things that the capital put in place, "we have to tell 13" I say turning to Peeta, he looks at me with a blank face "tell them what? We don't know anything besides don't you think if anything was going to happen that would affect Panem they would know about it?" He replied. I give him a stern look "I don't know, but we need somewhere to stay, besides they will have the best medical supplies for Willow". We arrive at the comms building where we are greeted by peacekeepers, they no longer wear helmets and more resemble security of the past. "Good morning Miss Everdeen, how can we assist you today". Despite their more welcoming appearance they still have rules to abide by and not just anyone can speak to 13". I look at him straight in the eyes "I have an urgent message for the head of security in 13, something they will need to know about". They both look at each other but with the harshness in my voice, they knew I wasn't going to take no for an answer. One of them walks us through to the console and after a few moments a face appears on screen, Gale.

"Catnip, it's been so long why won't you return my messages, why won't you speak to me, how are you, how's the kids". I have to grit my teeth I was hoping I would never have to speak to him again let alone ask for his help. "Something's wrong, I had a visitor yesterday; we need to come to 13, I thought you was in 2 now?". Gale's expression changed he seemed to go into a scripted response "I have been reassigned Katniss but hold on, who was your visitor and is there any danger to 13 or the Capitol. We can't just authorise relocation even for you Katniss". "Gale we need to come to 13 now - the visitor was Celestia". He turns to his right obviously looking at someone with him as though he was getting guidance of what to say. "Celestia Snow? Where is she now when did you see her and what exactly did she say". From his change in tone, I get the impression that this wasn't just a personal visit and that 13 already knew about her. "Gale I am not going to talk about it here, my daughter is sick - we need to come now". "ok Katniss" he looks down at some form of paperwork in front of him as if he already he knew what I was going to say. After a minute or so he looks up "your booked on the 12:30 to district 8, we will send a hovercraft to pick you up from there". The screen goes blank; Peeta turns to me holding our daughter in his arms with our son stood beside him. "I never thought I would see 13 again, it's that place of nightmares." He says.

With 12 still being rebuilt there is no place for the hovercraft to land so the only route in is from 8, we walk over to the station to board a train once again. The stations are not what the used to be, they're not just for the rich anymore and people from all walks of life travel and trade across Panem. When the train arrives and we begin to board I get flashbacks of the last two times I was on these godforsaken devices. The interiors only fit for the wealthy, the people of the Capitol. As I step through the doorway I see rows of seats, not marble tables filled with food, there are actual people sitting going from district to district; not being taken to fight for the enjoyment of sponsors. The children look excited; they have never travelled on the train before I don't want to tell them of what used to happen on them, especially as our mentor was an alcoholic! We sit there and Peeta takes my hand, he tries to give me a reassuring look but we both know that nothing good will come of a visit to 13.

It only takes three hours to reach 8 the journey was as relaxing as it could be we get off the train and the wind has stripped all the leaves off the trees, district 8 was the capital's source of crops but at this time of year hardly anything grows so the station is sparsely populated. No one's there to trade and no one else gets off here. We walk out to the back of the station where we see a familiar face, I feel a rush of happiness through my tired body, Cressida, although there was something very different about her. Trying not to make it obvious I find myself transfixed on her hair. It was all there, the elegant tattoo running down the side of her head was now fully covered in flowing hair. I run over almost forgetting who I am with and wrap my arms around her, she was one of only a few true friends I had in 13, she could understand me and although she pushed me for her perfect propo I knew she would fight with me if ever I was in trouble.

"Walk with me, we have a lot to go through but let's do it in the air. President Paylor has been notified of your message and she's on the way to meet us at 13" she looks worryingly over at Peeta and the kids as if she didn't want them to come. "how's things Peeta?" She says. "I'm good", Peeta never really had much to do with Cressida, most of the time he spent with her was troubled by his periods of hijacking. He was almost frightened of her but I knew she would do her best to keep us safe. "Your hair?" I say trying not to stare at her. She grins and looks at both of us "My hair was a statement to the past, things changed for the better so I thought why not". Looking around the cabin I notice something different "No camera's, crew?" I say. Cressida smiles "No, hopefully not. You could say I have been promoted. I'm in reconnaissance now, they think I have a good eye for things that don't look how they should. I'm in the air making sure Panem is safe". We look out at Panam beneath us almost everywhere is being rebuilt, there are houses, farms, playgrounds and shops, the sign of things getting better. Like the trains my memories of the hovercraft aren't good, most of the times I was either being taken off to die or being grabbed by those horrific claws.

After a few hours we land in thirteen and as the door lowers I see Gail waiting, Cressida looks at me knowingly, as much as I hate this as much as I hate him I need his help. He walks over to Peeta they shake hands and he turns and looks at me, "we have a room set up ready for you, Cressida will you accompany Peeta and the children to 724 I need to take Katniss to the control room". Thirteen like the rest of the districts are being rebuilt, no longer is it all underground there are now buildings above ground with people being allowed to roam freely. Coin would never allow that to happen even after Snow was killed, I knew I had to stop her and there was only one way I could do that. As we go down the escalator it stops at floor 7 Peeta leans towards me and we kiss, Gale looks uncomfortable but that doesn't bother me, he would have never been able to love me like Peeta. I hand him the bag with Buttercup still scratching about inside and they head off with Cressida, we continue down. I still remember where everything is in this place despite there being many floors when I was recovering from the last games I used to wonder around just to get away from everyone. We arrive at the control room and Gale opens the door, there in front of me is Beetee. Obviously, due to my communication in 12 he would have to be a part of any conversation between security and Paylor, in fact he probably already knows what is going on - he designed most of the equipment in Panem

Gale sits at the top of the table, seemingly proud of his new found stature "Katniss, what did Celestia say?". Paylor has yet to arrive and I feel uncomfortable with Gales assertiveness "Shouldn't we wait for Paylor? Doesn't she have to be part of the discussion?" Gale rises from his desk "I am head of Security, what did she say" he asks. "She said we would pay for Snow's death that we have destroyed Panem and she would be back".

Beetee who has been very quiet so far confirms my worries, "It would seem they are ready Gale, but I don't know why they sent her, it doesn't make sense. Why send someone who Katniss would have no feeling for, especially a young girl". Gale looks at me "They sent her because of Prim, they know what happened, they are trying to get into Katniss' head to bring out bad memories".

The doors open behind us and Paylor steps in, "Katniss, I am sorry we are meeting in bad circumstances but you have given us a lead we have been waiting for". "What do you mean, a lead?" I say. I watch her as she walks to her seat, Gale sits back down and crosses his arms. "When we stormed the mansion some of the council escaped before the bombs went off, before you killed Coin, before Coriolanus died". "We have information that an island off the coast of Panem was being supplied with equipment to reinforce the Capitols arsenal. What we didn't know is that Coin's son was Commander there".

The information is rattling around my head; I can't make any sense of what I am being told "Coin's son?" I say. "Joanus Snow, Cellestia's father. We have been monitoring as much as we can but our radar doesn't reach the island. It seems they are about to strike, what we don't know is when or how" she says. "Why did they come to me and Peeta, why us?" I reply. Paylor leans forward, putting her hands around mine "Katniss, in many of Panem's eyes you should have been President, you were the Mockingjay, people look up to you. That's the one thing Joanus will hate, the person who killed his father is loved by Panem". "Don't worry Katniss you can stay here in 13 for as long as you want, you and your family are welcome". Although I am grateful for the offer, this place was just as bad as the arenas "I don't want my family being in a small room like I was". Paylor looks towards Gale and then back "We have houses on top now, they are small but at least you have the sun above you" Paylor adds. That seems the best offer we will get "Thank you" I say. I stand up and turn to Beetee, again not saying much he just nods, the same nod he did when I first met Coin. A reassuring gesture but one I knew was done with an element of doubt.

Gale walks towards me and opens the door, I walk out into the corridor "Katniss, we need to talk". "Why Gale, I don't think we have any more to say to each other" I respond. He stands still and I walk away from him, I do feel sorry for him but what he did was unforgivable he knew what would happen with the sponsor parachutes, it was done to kill as many people as possible.

I eventually find our new room; opening the door Peeta is sat down with the Children. From the corner I hear a voice I have missed for so long "Katniss my dear". "Mom!" I almost jump to put my arms around her "Willow is doing well; her temperature is going down she will be fine." she says looking at me scanning me for wounds or scars. "You ok Katniss? Do you need anything?"she adds. "I'm fine Mother, just a little tired" I reply. Peeta stands up and smiles "Yes it's been a long day, years even". "It's so good to see you, I am so busy here it's impossible to leave" Mom says. I knew she was hiding her pain; she obviously would rather keep busy to forget what happened. "We are going to live here in 13, just on topside" I say. She doesn't look as happy as I thought she would "That's good Katniss you will be able to come and see me, I don't go outside much" she says sadly. It's worse than I thought she is even frightened to leave this underground city, like me after the last games, the outside is too painful, too dangerous to visit.

After a few minutes one of thirteen's security knocks on the door and walks in "Miss Everdeen I am Corporal Geevers, I am here to take you to your new living quarters" he says. Gale has obviously sent him rather than taking us himself, I am glad; the last thing my mother will want would be to see him now. We arrive at the house, its plain white with just one window looking out, the door looks like reinforced metal, it has no garden, no fencing and nothing for the children to play in. This will be our home for however long it takes. The inside is basic but has enough for us to be a family, 2 bedrooms, bathroom and a kitchen in an area with seating and a screen. Peeta and I get the kids ready for bed. Rye doesn't seem to be himself so I sit him on my knee "Come here you little rascal" I say. "Mommy, why can't we go back home?" Rye replies. I look into his innocent eyes and a tear begins to form in mine. "This is our new home now, for a little while, I promise". Deep down I know that this might be a promise I can't keep.


	2. Chapter 2

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 10

**Chaper 2**

To the south east of Panem is a collection of islands, the centre Precia was home to those who fled Panem many years ago when the games began. The occupants escaped by rafts and small fishing boats. Those who survived the journey made a settlement on the west of the island. It was thought in the early days that the districts sold contraband under the noses of the Peacekeepers to be shipped out in exchange for fruit that was in abundance there. The Presidents didn't care as on many occasions the peacekeepers would seize the goods saving the Capitol the cost of doing it themselves. In the years that past the settlers grew and cities began to rise spreading to the east. Panem's leaders knew that the island was too far to be a problem and left it to its own devices.

Without the majority of Panem's people's knowledge Presidents Snows son Joanus had been living there for the past 20 years. It was Snow's intention to use the island as an arms and chemical facility to produce weapons for the Capitol and District 2. In the centre of the city a large building silhouettes the skyline its nothing like the tribute building in the capitol its designed to be as impenetrable as thirteen. Deep within the structure is large room with equipment lining the walls and at one end a large Holo desk.

The doors open and in walks Celestia, "Celestia my darling, I congratulate you on a excellent meeting with Miss Everdeen" A tall man appears through the blue haze of the information being displayed on the desk. "Thank you father; I just hope I have succeeded in what you wanted".

One of the men with Celestia steps forward "Joanus, we have information that the mission was a success and Miss Everdeen has left for District 13".

"Good, very good" Joanus pauses before bending to Celestia "That will be all Celestia, you can return to your room now". She turns with an accomplished smile on her face and heads through the door.

Joanus returns to his desk and sits down looking at a map on the holo "Layus, can you put a call out to the council, we have some very good news for them. They will want to know what the next plans will be" he says. "Yes Sir" he replies, both men very pleased with themselves open the door and leave.

After a short while the door opens and the council, members of President Snow's staff that had managed to escape the uprising begin to walk in and sit down at a large oval shaped desk. Joanus walks over and purposefully sits at the top of the desk. A beam of light breaks the gloominess of the room and a projection of Panem is displayed.

"Ladies, Gentlemen you will be pleased to know that the mission was a success and the wheels have now been set in motion. By now District 13 will know of our intentions, or rather not know of our intentions" Joanus begins to grin. "Let's just say they are aware that the war isn't over, in fact it has only just begun". "The weapon is already being loaded as we speak and at the right moment we will strike" he says authoritatively.

Mariana one of the main supporters of Coriolanus in Panem stands "Do they have any idea why we needed Katniss out of 12?" she says. Joanus puts his hands together in a grasping like movement "Not at all, she ran along like I imagined she would. They have no idea".

Going through the centre of the building is a ramp leading down to large doors, they open and truck after truck depart and head out through the main gates. On the back of the trucks are containers with a Chemical symbol on them. Moving off down the road towards the west of the island, as the sun begins to set they disappear into a hill which has a runway leading out at one end.

I wake with the distinctive humming sound of hovercrafts overhead, leaning over I feel the bed next to me and my hand finds nothing but a cold sheet. I sit up in a panic and cry out "Peeta!" I am not going to wait for a reply and jump out of bed. I run over to the children's room its empty almost immediately I fear for the worst but we are in the safest place in the whole of Panem aren't we? Quickly I find my clothes and barely have them on before pulling the front door open.

The grounds are busy, people working with a sense of urgency, running over to the main entrance of the underground fortress I feel I am being watched. Having spent most of my time here before the uprising I was used to it only this time I wasn't scared, it was more the feeling that I shouldn't be here.

There would be no way I could find Peeta and the children on my own so I head down to the comms room, the only place I know where I will get answers. I can feel anger boiling up; why would Peeta leave without telling me. Just before I open the door I overhear Peeta's voice from the other side. "She won't, why would she get involved in anything now. Unless you know something we don't there is nothing you could say to make her change her mind". This has happened before, I remember, the hovercraft on the way back from the 75th games. Only this time and to my horror its Peeta talking.

I kick the door open with force and walk over to Peeta, President Paylor, Gail and Beetee are all sat round the table. "Peeta, the children where are they" I say. "Don't worry, your mother has them. I didn't want to wake you" he replies. "Didn't want to wake me for what!". I look over in the direction of Gale and then to Paylor. "Katniss, take a seat, please" Paylor moves round and points at a chair next to Peeta. Paylor has always been a likeable person, nothing like Coin or Snow, she had a heart but in the same vein she was very much a leader, she opens a small black book and picks up a pen "I have something very important to ask you. You, your family are welcome here in 13 for as long as you need but I need you to do something in return".

"You remember in the Capitol, when we lost Commander Boggs, you took it on yourself to lead the group. You saved many people's lives Katniss". Paylor explains. I am already beginning to dislike the path to which the conversation is going my head starts thinking of the people around me losing their lives, how can Paylor say I saved them.

"We don't know what Joanus is planning but with him sending his own daughter to speak to you before anyone else we can only imagine that it will involve you, Peeta your family" she says.

I feel my eyes filling up with tears, of fury, worry and sadness. "I killed Boggs, I killed Finnick, I killed Rue…." I put my hands over my face and place my head on the table "I killed Prim". Peeta puts his arm around my shoulder. "Katniss, I killed Prim" Gale exclaims, I hear the hurt in his voice, I wanted him to say it but if it wasn't for me, had I not blew out the force field in the games, if I had eaten the berries they would have all still been alive. I push Peeta's arm away and storm out of the room, before I can get down the corridor I hear Gale behind me. "Katniss, I'm so sorry, please will you let me explain". I can't move I just stand there with my back to him not knowing whether to run.

"The medics weren't supposed to be there; Prim wasn't supposed to be there. The bombs were for the last line of peacekeepers. Coin sent them in at the last minute so the peacekeepers would think there was only one set of explosives. Prim wanted to go, I didn't know she had gone" he says.

"I wanted to get them out of there but I couldn't the peacekeepers had me in the back of a truck, when the first explosion went off I managed to get out but it was too late" he adds.

I fall to my knees "Prim— the one person I wanted to save died because of us—" Gale with tears rolling down his face kneels beside me putting both arms around me "I miss her too". With the last remaining energy in my body I turn and hug him. I will never forget what he did; but I know now that I forgive him.

Peeta who had been patiently waiting behind walks over and gives me his hand, I manage to get back to my feet "Let's go find the kids and get something to eat" he says reassuringly. As we are walking away Paylor calls over. "I will come and find you in a couple of hours". I know she won't stop until she says what she needs to "Let me go see my children then I will listen to what you have to say" I reply.

As we enter the food hall I notice something very different, the screens have gone, there are no longer working timetables rolling the residents work schedules. Then I hear Rye's excited voice "Mom! They have bread, meat and potatoes". I sit down my Mom is feeding Willow, "How's your morning been Katniss? I have loved having the children, they are so polite" she says. "Thank you, I have tried to bring them up as you did us". You know it wasn't Gales fault don't you" I say not knowing if would get an answer. She seems to take an eternity to acknowledge "I was in the medical bay when Coin sent out the message for volunteers. I was aiding Johanna and Annie had just got the news about Finnick and needed help." She forms a grin but in a forced way "You know your sister; she was the first to volunteer" she says.

"She thought of others before herself, she always wanted to help" I say. "Just like you Katniss" Peeta says. "You would have done the same if it was you". He adds. "I don't know, Prim was much stronger than I was, especially after the first games. She had grown into everything I wasn't".

I try to eat but find myself thinking about what Paylor wants. "What was said Peeta, before I got there, what did she say to you". Peeta takes a deep breath "They need you Katniss, they have a President they have a head of security but they need a commander". I almost begin to laugh. "They want a commander; they think I could command an army".

"That's all they said to me, I am worried Katniss, I don't want to lose you". Peeta says. I look over at the kids. "Mom would you take the kids to your room, I need to speak to Paylor with Peeta". Rye jumps up "Do we get to go down in the escalator again!". Mom laughs "We do; I think I might have some apples there too". Peeta helps Rye from his seat and they head out of the room.

We get to Paylor's office; this time I knock before entering having calmed down from earlier. I am still apprehensive but I know Peeta will back me on anything I don't want to or can't do.

"Thank you for agreeing to speak with me" She says.

Beetee moves round to sit closer to me, "Don't worry Katniss, it's not as bad as you think". Although I have grown to like Beetee I can't quite trust him enough to believe him, after all he was part of the plot to get me out of the arena leaving Peeta behind.

Paylor opens her book once more "We need your help Katniss; you are a leader. The people here, the districts look up to you. I need your help. Cressida has intelligence that Precia is building up for something. We know that some of Coriolanus people managed to escape after the uprising and they went there. With Joanus in control we know whatever they are planning could be very serious".

"What can I possibly do to help?" I ask confusingly.

"We don't know yet, but are you willing to join us as commander?" She adds. I look at Peeta not knowing what to say. "Only if I am involved as well". Peeta says. "No Peeta, I am not going through this again, our children". I reply.

"Katniss, you are my life. I couldn't live if I lost you, if anything happens to you I want to be there to save you, like you have me" he adds.

"You will have the full backing of 13 and you can select anyone you want to be at your side" Gail says.

"I… I don't know". I think I whisper so that only Peeta can hear me but Paylor obviously heard "We need an answer now; we don't know when they will strike. If you don't agree we have to think of another strategy and that could take time, time we might not have" Paylor demands.

"Ok, I will do it but I have conditions". I say. Paylor smiles, she will have known my demands for being the Mockingjay "Very well what are they" she replies.

"When this is all over, you build us a house, not like the shoeboxes here in 13 but a house we can live in, one that's safe. One that no one can get in to." "We will get it arranged immediately Katniss, anything else?" Paylor says.

"Yes if something happens to 13 and we survive, you will facilitate us in moving away from Panem— my Children, my Mom and Buttercup".

Paylor looks concerned. "If we lose 13 then I fear we will have lost more than just a district" She says beginning to write something in her book before looking at Gale. "You may go now Katniss, thank you for your time". I am not sure I like being ordered around but as long as they keep us safe I will have to go along with it. I know I will not be the topic of conversation between Paylor and Gail so I push myself up against the door and strain to listen through its cold metal.

"Do you think she will be able to handle this" Paylor asks Gale. "She will be ok, just get people around her that she can trust, there aren't many but people she actually likes" he replies.

"I know exactly who we need, Johanna" Beetee chuckles.

I decide to leave them to it, no point in making the situation any worse. We reach my Moms room, Rye is playing happily on the floor, he was brought into a world nothing like what I grew up in, he has no fears, like the deer on the outskirts of 13. They had not seen humans before they had nothing to be afraid of.

"How did it go dear" Mom says in her cheerful voice. "I have agreed to be Commander if Joanus attacks Panem". I reply.

"Are you sure, it won't be anything like the Capitol, that was an uprising this will be a proper war" she says. I can sense worry in her voice.

"I have to Mother, to keep my family safe, if he wins there will be nothing worth living for anyway" I reluctantly reply.

We head back to our makeshift home, as we exit the main building and walk across the grounds one of the workers whistles. It sends a chill down my spine, Rues whistle. Immediately the sound is repeated in the skies I look up and see Mockingjay's flying and settling in the leafless tree's. All the workers look over to me and raise their arms.

The salute that caused many of their families and friends to lose their lives was now a sign of camaraderie. I now knew what Paylor said was true, it wasn't that they thought I shouldn't be here, it was they thought I should have never left.


	3. Chapter 3

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 13

**Chaper 3**

After a few days we are as settled as we could ever be, the children don't seem to mind the noise that begins at the crack of dawn and ends well after the sun has gone down. I have caught glimpses of Rye looking out the window just taking it all in. I purposely kept them away from it all in 12. I wanted us to have a peaceful life, where we could be near to nature, for them not to see what mankind can create to hurt people. Paylor has set Peeta some work whilst we are here; it's nothing like what 13 used to be. Coin had the residents working almost 20 hours a day, strict timetables that told you when you could eat, when you could rest and when you had to work. I am surprised there wasn't a slot for actually breathing. Peeta has been asked to help with the movement of the munitions that have been produced. It's not the most interesting of jobs but they know he is strong; he doesn't seem to mind apart from having to lie in the bath for what seems like an hour every night.

One evening just after we put the children to bed we hear a knock at our door, although I feel safer here in District 13 I still fear anyone that comes to our door so Peeta has another job in chief door opener. I hear them talking but I can't quite see who it is, the lighting in our house isn't the best, Paylor says it's because all of the energy created is needed for the fortress. Peeta walks over, it's Geevers. "Good evening Miss Everdeen, I have a message from President Paylor she would like you to meet Beetee in the weapons testing area first thing in the morning. There are one or two new developments you need to check over" he says.

"Beetee - been inventing new tools to kill people then?" I reply sarcastically. Beetee is a very clever man; the Capitol relied on him after he won the 41st games. The problem is he is too clever for his own good, his inventions being used against him and others so many times. Peeta seems to look embarrassed by my outburst. "We will be there as soon as Katniss' mother can take the children" he says.

"We do have a crèche facility Miss Everdeen, things have changed a great deal since your last visit, we can". Before he can finish his sentence I shout "No, I am not letting my children be with anyone other than my Mother, you understand".

Geevers takes a step back and bows his head "Very well, I will make sure your wishes are noted with the President". He heads back through the door, Peeta closes it behind him and bolts it shut.

"I don't trust anyone here Peeta, only my Mom, the only person here that helped us in the Capitol was Paylor and she wants us to go back to war". I say. Peeta nods "I know Katniss, I won't let anyone take our children, they will be safe, as long as I live". I suddenly get a sense of security, the words ring in my head, it was the one thing that kept me sane before he got liberated from the Capitol. His words that helped me sleep at night.

As the sun begins to appear over the mountain 13 is built into and having given my mother the children we head down to the weapons testing room. Beetee is there to greet us "Good morning Peeta, Katniss" he says pushing himself round to a long table; I notice straight away a bow lying at one end. "Paylor has asked me to develop some new equipment for you Katniss, look here" He lines himself up at a table of arrows. "You remember the red and yellow arrow heads" he says. I look at him and reluctantly nod my head. "We have new attachments now, here blue, this is a flash head you fire it into the sky and it will light up. It's also great for disorientation anyone that is caught in the flash will temporarily be blinded. Green is a smoke head, good to block anyone from being able to locate your position".

I am beginning to get interested in what Beetee is showing me, for once the weapons are not to kill they are to survive. I pick up the green arrow and fire it down the range, a cloud of smoke appears and stretches along the wall, I begin to smile.

"Finally we have the white head; this is radar. You fire it into an area and it will immediately display infrared and heat on your holo of anyone in the vicinity, make sure you're not in any water when you use it, it has a lot of electricity inside it" he says.

I smile at him "I am impressed Beetee, how am I going to remember all of them though" I say.

"We have upgraded your bow and your quiver" he says. He picks up the bow and hands it to me. "Your Bow now has the ability to ready an arrow whist you use another, meaning you can shoot two arrows in quick succession". There are also coloured buttons on your bow.

Like a child who has been given a new toy I press a button, a hissing sound is heard and up pops an arrow from the quiver lying on the table, Peeta who was standing right next to it almost falls back in shock. I giggle "I press the colour for what arrow I want". I say. "Exactly Katniss, now Peeta" he says.

He moves around the table to pick up a black box, it has a pipe coming out of it with a spike at one end. We stand back "Don't worry I will use this down here" he says heading down to the firing range area. He waits a few seconds then turns round "Peeta?" he says with a confused expression. Peeta swiftly walks over to him like a boy being told off by a teacher. "This is an electromagnetic neutraliser" he says moving a switch on the side. A buzzing sound comes from the box and within a second a large beam of light shoots from the spike and what looks like a wall is displayed.

"It works in two ways; this is a shield, it will protect anyone and anything behind it". Peeta and I just look at each other in amazement. Beetee moves along to a wall. He gives the box Peeta. "It's kinda heavy" Peeta says as he lifts it up. "That's why we chose you Peeta, your strength". Beetee presses on a keypad on next the wall and a force field shoots down from the roof. "Go ahead, walk towards it and push the spike into it" Beetee says.

Peeta edges his way towards the glowing sheet in front of him, it brings back memories of when he hit the arena walls in the games. Moving his arm up he pushes the spike into the wall. With a flash a circle appears in front of him. "Go ahead, walk through" Beetee says with confidence.

Peeta steps through, "It will open up a tunnel through any force field allowing a short period to move through". I walk over and look at Peeta through the force field "A short time, what's a short time". As I finish my sentence the force field re-appears right in front of my face.

"Yes it only allows a 10 second window and there are a couple of warnings I need to tell you about. Firstly, it will only allow itself, humans and basic non-electronic weapons through" he says. "What do you mean basic weapons?" I say beginning to think that this device isn't a good idea. "Non-explosive, you must remember not to take through your incendiary and explosive arrows. That goes for rifles and handguns as well".

Beetee looks a little downhearted with our reaction; he switches off the force field and moves past us. "These are for the protection of your squad Katniss, we don't know if you will ever actually have to use them" he says.

"Thank you, I didn't mean to sound ungrateful" I say. Peeta places the box down on the table "It's a pity we didn't have this in the arena, we could have gotten out straight away". Beetee looks down sadly "Yes, none of us would have been in this situation had we had something like this".

After a while testing the various arrows we head back towards my mother's room on the medical floor. Just before we get to the door Peeta grabs my hand. "Are you ok with everything, you're not having second thoughts are you. If you are we can tell Paylor we want to leave". He says. I turn and look into his eyes, "It's too late for that now, anyway I am safe with you Peeta" I reply. I lean in, putting my hands around his face and kiss him. "Will you two Lovebirds put each other down I have just eaten". An unmistakable voice is heard behind us.

We both turn round "Johanna—" I say excitedly. "What are you doing here?" Johanna walks towards us and grins "You don't think you can go to war without me do you. You had too much fun last time". She says.

"President Paylor asked me, in person I might add, to come and help you and Peeta fight someone we don't know in somewhere we have never been, sometime in the near future. It was a request I couldn't refuse". She looks a world from her appearance the last time I saw her, her hair is back, her face is how she was before the games, she looks human again. I hug her, she was the person in 13 that made me make my decision to go to the Capitol. She has a no fear attitude and although I didn't particularly like her in the last games, I thought she wanted to kill me, we grew together when her and Peeta were both rescued. She helped me more than anyone get through it and understand what they both went through. She just got on with it and made me too.

"Where are you staying? Do you have a place in 13?" I ask. "Well I was back in 7, I actually have a boyfriend now Marcus, who would have thought it, as soon as Snow dies I actually find love". She replies. "That's great news is he here, where is he?" I say looking down the corridor.

She seems a little upset by the question "No, Paylor wouldn't allow him to come, besides he works in the lumber yards so he is essential to 13". She says. "I am sorry; I didn't know" I feel slightly awkward. She smiles "Don't worry Katniss, he's no fighter, he wouldn't last 5 minutes out here, no, he's better off there" she says. I get a feeling that she is trying to talk herself into the reasoning why he couldn't or shouldn't come but deep down I can see she is feeling lonely, that she had someone to care for that she couldn't be with". A feeling I knew all too well.

We enter Mom's room; Johanna gives out a happy cry "Doc Everdeen!" I look at Johanna perplexed, Doc Everdeen? "Hello Johanna, how are you shaping up?" My mother isn't one of many words, since my father died she has found it hard to build any kind of relationship with anyone. This welcoming appearance gives me a warm feeling, perhaps she is finally getting out of her shell, and perhaps Johanna has had an effect on her as well.

"I'm fine Doc, well I was until I was ordered to come here again, but you know Katniss" Johanna says. I never asked for Johanna, in fact I hadn't really thought about anyone who I would want to join us in a war we have no idea about. I am glad she is here though; she is definitely someone who I can trust. "Yes Katniss, your mother and I spent many a long hour staring at each other when I was recovering. When I began to get my hair back she helped me look as respectable as I could, for that I am eternally grateful". Mother just smiles. "She even managed to get me a few extra helpings' of Morphling, yeah it's not fun staring at a roof 18 hours a day without something to make you forget why you are here" Johanna Says.

Johanna moves around and see's Rye playing with Buttercup on the floor. That cat, it's one temperamental creature but it took to my children just as much as it did Prim. Perhaps it knows who they are and is using them as a way to remember her. "And who are these two little mites, I guess the lovebirds were very busy after the uprising!" she says. "Rye, the little girl sleeping is Willow, I am here for them, not because of Paylor. I couldn't stay in 12 after Celestia's visit" I reply.

"Oh yes, Celestia. Who would have thought it eh? After all these years Snow's son has been hiding out and now has a problem with us". Johanna's tone becomes angry, it reminds me of when we were attacked by the Jabberjays, she would have wanted to kill Snow as much as me had we not all got split up before the arena imploded. I still can't work out how she knew what was going to happen, how could so much information be carried into the games.

My mother tries to deflect the hostility from Johanna and looks at me "Have you eaten dear" she says. "No we were just going to pick the children up and head to the food hall" I say. As if perfectly timed Gale appears at the doorway. "Katniss, President Paylor wants to meet with you, Peeta and Johanna. She needs to know who you want in your squad".

"Don't worry, I will take the children to get something to eat and maybe meet you back at your house?" Mother says. I am quite taken back by her wanting to go outside, all this talk and Johanna coming back has given her confidence, I am certainly not complaining. "If that's ok Mother, we shouldn't be too long. There aren't many people I would want with us". Peeta gives me that knowing look, he knows me too well now, I have no secrets to hide from him, I am not a friendly person and people do not tend to get on with me. I grew up like that and honestly it's how I like it, people who I grow to love tend to die.

We enter the comms room and Gale goes to sit next to Paylor, there is one person who since we arrived here I have expected to see. I thought that with this big decision he would have wanted to be present; Plutarch.

"Where's Plutarch, is he not involved here anymore?" I say. Paylor looks down at her book and then back up, it seemed as though she was formulating an answer to a question she wasn't expecting as if reading her notes. "After you shot Coin and Snow was killed Plutarch knew that his job was finished. Everything he set out to accomplish was complete when you fired that arrow. I asked him to become our head of communications but he declined" she says. This can't be right, Plutarch was the brain behind Coin, it was his plans that allowed us to get into the Capitol. I know he wasn't responsible for the bombs at Snows Mansion. Plutarch was a leader, maybe he wanted Coin as leader, did he want the games to continue?

"The fact is Katniss, we don't know where he is, he left Panem a couple of weeks after you returned to 12. He doesn't want to be contacted and we have to respect his wishes".

Although I believe Paylor is one of the good guys I don't want to go into any battle without someone I know by her side, someone I know would stop anything like what Coin did to Prim. Gale lost my trust, he invented the bombs with Beetee, it can't be Gale. I suddenly hear a smash outside in the corridor, Paylor looks up as if to reprimand the culprit. Someone from 13's kitchen had dropped a water bottle, as he walked past the window to the room he mouthed the word "Sorry".

It was at that moment it suddenly dawned on me, the smashing of glass bottles, I remember opening the door and forcing my way past empty bottles. "I want Haymitch to be in the comms room while we are out there." I say authoritatively. Gale immediately gives me a look, as if I was crazy. "Very well Katniss I will put the call out to bring him in, may I ask why Haymitch?" Paylor says. "He knows me; he knows what I want. He helped me before the 74th, before the 75th and while I was here in 13. If he doesn't agree neither will I".

Paylor writes in her book "Anyone else?" she says. "I expect Gale will be here in communications?" I say. Gale leans forward as if he was expecting the question. "No Katniss, I will be with you on the frontline, it's my job now Boggs has gone, I have more experience with weaponry than most here in 13".

My mind starts racing for names, trying to remember who actually made it out of the Capitol alive with me, then I have a flashback to the tunnels "Pollux, is he still here?" I say. "Yes Katniss, Pollux is working in our military communications team, he aids the reporting of the rebuilding of the districts bombed by the Capitol". I know Pollux wasn't a fighter, he could shoot fine with a camera but his nature made me feel we needed him in the team. "I am afraid that isn't possible, Pollux has been under rehabilitation for months, he isn't ready. We asked him to return to 13 prior to you coming. He unfortunately declined but wished you all well".

"Well there is no one else left, we lost too many in the Capitol". I say.

Paylor gets up and walks across to me and Peeta "Don't forget Peeta", she says comfortingly. "I will assemble the best we have to offer in terms of support for your Squad, I will contact you as soon as we are ready and you can make your own judgements" she says.

Peeta stands up and turns to Johanna "Well it's not as if it's the games is it?" he says. Johanna responds in a way only she could "No, these games have guns and bombs and explosions". I attempt to hide my smile.

"Are there any other developments with Precia?" I say turning to Paylor. "Cressida has been in the air daily and has nothing to report, we will know straight away if anything comes into our border".

Although Paylor speaks with confidence, I have a feeling deep down, one that frightens me so much, I don't think they will announce themselves if they are going to attack us. We will be sitting ducks just waiting for it to happen.

We leave the comms room, there isn't anything more I can say, no one else to call on, I have to now rely on Paylor to bring in who she thinks will be able to work with us, or more importantly get along with me.

We enter the lift back to the surface, at the 6th floor it stops and doors open "See you tomorrow you two, I expect it will be a busy day" Johanna says. "You're not up top with us then?" I reply. "No… only the important people get to have their own place, besides if anything happens I would rather be down here even though I hate the place" she says. I agree with her but 13 is a cold place not a place I want to be in longer than I need to.

Back at our house everything is quiet outside, there is nothing visible apart from a dim light through our window. We go inside and mother is sat down looking at the holo screen which is displaying just a white blur. "Anything interesting on tonight" I say walking over to Mom. She was asleep, she wakes with a start "Sorry dear, I must have dropped off, the children are in bed, I even managed a story which had them asleep in no time".

The holo screen begins to flicker, Peeta walks over to it to see if anything is wrong with it. He begins to move it and all of a sudden Gales face appears. "Katniss, Peeta we need you back in the comms room urgently. Recon has picked something up".

"Don't worry Katniss, I will stay here, it's a lot more comfortable than in my room. You go see what they what they have found out" Mom says.


	4. Chapter 4

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 14

**Chaper 4**

As we enter the comms room once more, Paylor and Gale are stood at the radio desk, Paylor glances over to us and waves her arm for us to sit down. "President Paylor, this is ER002, Cressida speaking".

Paylor looks concerned but calm "Go ahead Cressida, what do you have for us" she says. "In the last 5 minutes we have spotted an unidentified aircraft heading into Panem airspace, how would you like us to respond?"

"Switch to stealth mode immediately, have they seen you" she says. "No Madam President, we were too far out for any radar contact." Cressida replies. "Good, I want to see where they are going and what for" Paylor calls back. Gale looks at Paylor. "You're just going to let them fly into our airspace unchallenged; they could launch a strike at any moment." Although Gale has been promoted to head of security, he is still very young in the eyes of Paylor and she quickly puts her authority over him.

"They won't launch an attack with one hovercraft that would be madness with the firepower we have, no there here for something else. I want to know what that is" she says.

The radio speaker crackles "President Paylor, they have changed track to a north west direction, heading over district 8 towards 13, please advise" Cressida says. "Keep your distance and follow them, this isn't a bombing run" Paylor replies. "Ok, understood. Will report if there are any updates". The speaker crackles and a beep is heard, then silence.

Off the east coast of Panem in the relatively calm ocean a long dark shape moves gracefully under the water, this was no whale this was made of machinery. Like the comms room in 13 a man is sitting at a desk deep within the bowls of the craft. "Sir, they are taking the bait, do you want us to launch" he says. The distinctive voice of Joanus comes back "Very good Prior, no not yet, I want the hovercraft over 13 first, that gives us enough time to launch and head back" Joanus says.

"Very good Sir, I will prep the launch crew to be ready" Prior says. He turns to a keyboard and frantically types something on a screen it just reads _"Ready the launch, prepare to fire on my go"_.

Back in district 13 a small blip appears on the large screen in the comms room, Paylor turns to look, Cressida talks once more "This is ER002, Madam President, aircraft is now over 13, will keep monitoring". Paylor stands to think for a few seconds and speaks "Keep on your bearing, hold your position and don't give yourself away. We can fire from here if they attempt any attack". Almost immediately Cressida shouts "Mrs President they are dropping something from the bomb doors, I can't make out what they are?" Paylor looks at the radar, Gale looking confused says "There's nothing on the radar, what is it they are dropping?".

"Cressida, hold your position I have a feeling this is Propaganda material, are they heading back?" Paylor says. "Yes— yes I can confirm they are turning back; we will let them pass before getting someone on the ground to check" she replies.

Back in the ocean Prior signals Joanus on his radio "They are now over 13 Sir, ok to launch?". After a slight pause Joanus replies "Go for launch, may this day signal the start of our recapture of our Panem". Prior presses a red button on his keyboard. The craft comes to a sudden halt so much so that people on board are hurled forwards; then on the outside doors begin to slide on the front.

As the craft begins to stop hundreds of small black dart like torpedoes are fired from either side. They scuttle along the ocean like seals trying to escape from the jaws of killer whales. As they begin to reach the coast they split up some heading southward the other straight on. They reach the coast and slide up the banks where they come to a halt, there are no explosions in fact there are no sounds at all apart from a beeping sound. The beeps get closer and closer together before a loud click is heard.

Then a tiny door begins to open and hundreds of insects begin to fly out. They initially fly straight up circle for a few moments before heading inland. Every torpedo is the same, hundreds and hundreds of the tiny creatures are heading straight for district 8.

On Cressida's hovercraft the pilot begins his decent to the ground, as they land she looks out of the side window, the grass, trees, dirt and houses are covered in white pieces of paper, it almost looks as if it had been snowing for days. The rear door opens and she steps out, the hovercraft doesn't make it easy to actually pick any of the sheets up as the downdraft furiously blows them around. Cressida looks down and grabs one of the many flying round here feet.

_**People of Panem, your leader, your President is lying to you**__._

_Is life now better than before? Are the crops now growing faster, do you get more timber from the trees, do your clothes now sell more often?_

_**Can you now afford all the food you need?**_

_Your president is destroying the nation you live in, there are no controls in place to make sure the Capitol can provide for its citizens and thus for the rest of Panem. Within a few years Panem will become a wasteland because of a few rebels who thought they knew better._

_What can you do?_

_The people of Precia understand your worries, that's why we as a nation will help you and your families live a better life. We aim to make a change, for the greater good._

_We are watching, we are listening, we will provide._

Cressida rushes back up onto the hovercraft and scans the sheet of paper. "President Paylor, I am sending you the image now". She says.

On the screen next to the radar in thirteen the words appear, the whole room falls silent; I read through the words, they don't make any sense. How could a small island be able to make Panem a better place. I know things are still hard here but Paylor is doing a good job, more importantly children aren't dragged away from their families to die.

We all look at the screen, then the radar. The worrying thing is that Paylor herself seems scared as if she didn't know what to do next. Gale attempts to break the silence. "President, we need to follow that aircraft, shoot it down if it heads over any other districts". Paylor walks over and sits down at the table where myself and Peeta are turning her seat to see the radar. "Yes, Cressida, keep tracking the aircraft until it leaves our airspace. Switch off your stealth, I want them to know they are being watched" she says assertively.

As she finishes her sentence someone walks in the room behind us "Do you people never learn? Can you not see that this is a decoy?" we all strain our necks attempting to turn round, there walking into the room is Haymitch. "Woaw, such smiles to see me, you guys would be enough to turn a man to drink". He sits down next to me and nods his head "Katniss, your looking… older". I have no response but to smile back at him.

"Good to see you Haymitch, are you—" Peeta says. "Sober?" Haymitch completes Peeta's sentence "Yes I'm sober; I have been for at least 2 days. Tend to just drink at the weekend or special occasions now and boy is this a special occasion" Haymitch says.

"Welcome back to 13 Haymitch, you say a decoy why would you think that?" Paylor turns away from the radar and leans on the table looking at Haymitch.

"Well, and I'm no expert in these things, but I have been around long enough and seen some things in my time and that was a decoy. You send a hovercraft over an area where it will attract the most attention. Even better if it's the military stronghold. Then while all eyes are looking one way you send something else in an entirely different area. Would have thought you would have worked that out Gale?" he says.

"Do you think they have landed troops, people on the ground" Gale's interest in the proceedings seems to have increased, it now seems he has his war head back on again. "Wouldn't that appear on the radar" I say. Gale replies "Of course, anything that enters our airspace will always be picked up on radar, Beetee made it so that even the best stealth couldn't conceal itself".

"That is of course— if whatever it was came by air" Haymitch says leaning back in his chair. Gale stands up looking at the map of Panem "We need to get the coast surveyed!" he says. "It's too late for that, there are thousands of miles to cover; we wouldn't be able to pick anything up in the dark. We will have to wait until morning." Paylor replies.

"Is there any place in 13 where a man could get some light refreshments now, purely for medicinal purposes, I have a bit of a headache after that long journey" Haymitch says "I don't think so" For some reason today in one of the most critical situations the comms room seems to have an open door. Haymitch slumps in his seat, in walks Effie.

"Katniss, Peeta my darlings. I am so sorry to hear you have been wound up in all this bother again." Effie says hugging us both. "Effie, what are you doing here" I say. "Well, someone has to keep an eye on Haymitch don't they, can't have him reporting for duty at your request and turning up drunk can we" she says.

"Besides, it looks as though the fashion here hasn't changed and I don't want my victors going out in any old rubbish. So where will we be staying in this cave?" She says.

Paylor stands and shakes Effie's hand "Welcome to 13, it's great to see you again. I am sure we can arrange your old room for you." she replies.

"No, no, no, I am not going back to that closet, besides how can the two of us fit in that tiny room" Effie says.

"Effie! You and Haymitch, are you—" I say. My jaw almost touches the table. "Well, he is a good man when he isn't surrounded by bottles, one step at a time though darling" she says. Haymitch just sits there with a forced smile. I knew for a while that the two of them had grown together particularly towards the end of the uprising. It was good to see Haymitch having someone to watch him, to curb his bad habits.

"Very well, I will allow you to use a house topside, you can be near to Katniss and Peeta that way" Paylor says.

"Great— now I will have two women moaning at me daily, even better we will be neighbours!" Haymitch says in a rather grumpy way.

"Well, better get some sleep, looks like it's going to be a long day tomorrow, please report back here at 0600 hours" Paylor says.

Haymitch stands up and walks past me "Katniss, is Mrs Everdeen still here, she couldn't spare some bottles for the night" he says. Effie pushes him from behind out through the door. "Night Katniss, Peeta" she says.

As Haymitch and Effie leave the comms room Cressida's voice comes over the speaker once more. "President Paylor, unidentified aircraft has dropped more of the propaganda material over district 8, do we investigate?"

Paylor obviously getting annoyed by this says "No, they have done enough, we will find out what this is all about in the morning, please proceed your monitoring and make sure they leave our airspace". "Affirmative President" Cressida replies.

The thousands of sheets of paper fall silently onto the fields and dwellings of district 8, the people unaware of their arrival.

Cressida's reconnaissance craft follows the Precia plane out of the Panem airspace and across the ocean, just before its goes out of radar range there is a communication. "Good night district 13, we know you have been watching us and we appreciate you not interfering in our essential distribution of advice for citizens of Panem. We won't allow you to destroy our once great nation with your contempt of everything that was built by our council over the years. You will hear from us again in due course." Cressida quickly speaks to District 13 "Paylor, are you receiving this, did you hear their message?". "Yes we heard it, please return to base, I don't want to say anymore over radio" Paylor replies.

As the dawn begins over the ocean Cressida's hovercraft banks away to return back north. The craft from Precia a distant dot on the horizon.

In district 8 an elderly man comes out from his house getting ready for the day ahead, he looks up at the sky admiring the beautiful redness of the scattered clouds then he catches a glimpse of something flapping in a branch of a tree. Confused he walks towards it to take a closer look when he realises most of the floor is covered in pieces of paper.

Bending down he picks one up

_**Citizens of District 8**_

_We are aware of an outbreak of illness that is currently spreading through Panem. If you fall ill showing any of the following symptoms you must report to our emergency aid centre located on the south coast of district 8._

_Dizziness._

_Sickness._

_Severe headaches_

_Itching_

_**Do not attempt travel outside of your district.**__ There is no need to contact anyone; the President has full knowledge of the outbreak._

_The condition is more susceptible to people between the ages of 10 and 30. We do not know of anyone above this age who has contracted the illness however caution must be advised._

_Thank you for your time and understanding_

_District 13 health authority._

The man looking worried begins to feel his head and looks at his arms before turning back towards his house and entering the door. His wife is at the stove cooking some breakfast he walks over and places the sheet of paper next to her. After reading she looks at the man and then herself already scared that they have the illness.

The same thing begins to happen all over the district through the early hours of the morning, although no one seems to be showing any signs of sickness.

Across the street a young family are saying their goodbyes to their father who is about to set off for work at the textiles factory as he turns to walk down the path leading to the main street and suddenly feels a sharp pain in his neck, he raises his hand to rub it he hears a buzzing sound then another needle like feeling on the top of his hand, he quickly brings his hand down. There sitting on the top of his finger is a Culakfly its long probe deep inside his skin. He flicks the insect away screaming in pain at the same time. His wife runs over to see what has happened. "Are you ok what was it she says". He turns to her "Culakfly, bit me twice as well. I should be alright darling don't worry, we have that emergency place in the district so I will just head off there if there's any problems". He kisses his wife and heads off like many others on the way to the factory.

A group of men working in one of the factories are lifting large cylinder of fabric. Almost like robots they lift, carry and lay down the colourful rolls over and over again. A gust of wind makes a window next to them fling open. They stop and turn to look before laughing at each other and continue their jobs. As they pick up the roll one of them drops it at one end causing them all to fall to the ground. A scream of pain comes from one of the men that has now become trapped underneath.

Mayhem breaks out as one after another begin scratching at their arms and legs. A supervisor clearly upset by the noise gets up from his desk and walks to the door which overlooks the factory floor. His face shows horror as a swarm of Culakflies covers the men leaving them screaming. He quickly goes back into his is office and slams the door peering out of the window like someone who had seen a ghost.

Across the district a group of teenagers are in class learning about their futures in the textiles industry when one of the girls' screams. The whole class turns round "I've been bitten by a trackerjacker!" she says in tears. Everyone in the class quickly moves away from the girl and the teachers runs over. "Don't worry it's not a trackerjacker, they are not in the wild it's only a Culakfly" she says. One of the girl's friends asks "What are they". The teacher who is getting the girl to her feet and helping her to the door replies "They are like what Mosquitoes were in the olden days only they don't spread diseases, they were wiped out many, many years ago. She will be fine just a little itchy for a day or so, I'll take her to the nurse the rest of you continue reading your books until I get back".

After a couple of hours, the same incident is happening all over the district. Some of the people who were bitten earlier in the morning begin to get dizziness spells, some begin feinting. The symptoms that were listed on the drop from the Precia Hovercraft are becoming true.

On the coast of 8 a large tent has appeared with a big red cross on the roof. People dressed in medical uniforms are standing around seemingly just waiting for their first patient, then over the top of a sand dune a solitary man, staggering as he walks begins heading towards them. Moments later and man and girl appears. Then, just as they did when they went off to work and school in the morning long lines of sick people head to the tent before them.

The people in the tent spring into action as the first man reaches them. "What are your symptoms Sir?" one of the nurses says. "Dizzy, sick, I, I" he says as he falls to the ground in front of her. "We have a 12B" here ready to go" she shouts to a man behind her. The man looked out of place compared to the rest of the people there, he looked almost military. As he nods to the nurse he says something into a microphone attached to an earpiece.

Another nurse shouts "This one's a 1A, suggest a bed for a few minutes" she takes the man round the back of the tent where a line of beds are positioned, he sits down before lifting his feet onto the bed. "How long till I am ok" he says in a weak voice. The nurse looks into his eyes with a light pen "You should be ok in about 10-15 minutes; I just need to give you this injection which will help you with any pain". The man looks happy at the attention he is receiving and lies back on the bed.

As time goes on there are 2 clear areas forming within the tent those who seem to very sick on one side and on the other those who don't look to have contracted as much of the illness as the other.

A nurse walks over to the military man and says "We have 40 ready to go now, we need more time with the rest".

Speaking on his headset again whilst looking out to the ocean a black egg shaped pod vessel appears from beneath the water, a few seconds later 2 more surfaces behind it. They pick up speed heading for the beach, as they arrive a door lowers at the front and men dressed in all black with helmets run down the slope all carrying guns. After the last man gets off a long flat vehicle rolls down and heads towards the medical tent.

"These here are all ready to go; we need 3 more carriers in the next 15 minutes. You're good to depart". The man with the headset says to one of the men in black. "All these to be lifted" he shouts to the other men. One by one the people are loaded on to the vehicle. Once the last person is laid on top it returns to the pod, the doors close and it goes back out to the ocean before submerging quietly under the water.

As the morning goes on the same repeated process happens for many of the people of 8, disappearing into the ocean never to return.

"We should send a response aircraft over Precia" Gale says as we walk around the sheets of paper. "What good would that do, we can't go in all guns blazing against an enemy when we have no idea what they want" Haymitch replies. "They want Panem can't you see that" Gale angrily responds. "They said they want Panem but they are a tiny island, we have all the districts on our side, they have no way of competing against that" Hamitch says.

I am struggling to come to terms with what happened last night, so much worry over sheets of paper "What if these propaganda letters are to put doubt in the minds of the people, what if they turn against us" I say.

"That's exactly what they are Katniss, that's why we need to find the underlying reason for the drop. No, simply bombing them won't solve the problem, it will make it worse" Haymitch says.


	5. Chapter 5

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 21

**Chaper 5**

Gale's holo beeps; although I am supposed to be a leader now I have been lucky enough not to be harboured with one yet. I know it won't be long before I will be at the beck and call of Paylor and command but for now all I hear is the wind and the people around me.

He speaks for a while slightly covering his mouth as though he feels too important for anyone to overhear what he is saying "We need to get back to command, Paylor says something's happened in 8" he says.

Peeta rolls some of the paper he has collected and throws it in the air "Looks like we won't be seeing the children today. I hope your mother is getting on ok and they aren't causing her too many problems" he says. "I am sure they will be fine; we can go see them straight once we have checked with command" I reply. I really hope that it won't be the last time either.

A clean-up operation is in full swing, the people of 13 who used to be working moving munitions and equipment are now picking up the hundreds of sheets of paper. I notice that the numbers of people have reduced dramatically, its quieter but perhaps they have been, as well as us, summoned to our posts within the deep structure that is District 13.

As we head down the elevator almost all of the floors are deadly silent, no one seems to be doing anything. I feel very uneasy about what is about to happen, it reminds me of the raid on 13 by Snow, we were in the shelters for so long that people would stop talking to each other.

We reach the command floor and head towards the comms room. "Sounds like it's all about to kick off" Johanna comes marching up behind us, there seems an element of joy in her voice, as if she is looking forward to whatever we are needed to do. Haymitch turns to her "Johanna, I thought you would be the last person to be so excited to go into battle especially as you have only just got over the last one" he says. "Not excited at all just it's my turn to help save Panem, I am just ready that's all" she replies. "I just wish we knew what we supposed to be ready for" I say pushing the door of the comms room.

Paylor is stood at the top of the desk, Beetee next to her. She is holding a communications holo. There are two unfamiliar faces to her left. Expecting an introduction, I am shocked when Paylor tells everyone to be seated. "Ladies, Gentleman, we have reports from District 8 of citizens disappearing. Earlier today a train bound for a textile pickup was stopped at the border of District 11 and 8. The train was forced to return to the station in 11. Cressida and her team were sent to investigate and was able to land safely. Eye witness state that an outbreak of illness within the people had caused many of them to seek aid. What isn't known yet is where. This will be your first mission Katniss. We— I need you and your squad to fly to 8 and investigate the situation. I will provide you with breathing apparatus in case whatever is causing these people to be sick is airborne. This leads me on to your new recruits."

"This is Helsa", she turns to a girl to the far left of her. She looks eighteen, maybe nineteen, nothing like someone who you would want to go into battle with. "Helsa is a marksman; she is expertly skilled in long range weapons. Due to the nature of her excellence she will also be your scout on the ground". She stands up and walks round to me "Good day to you Ma'am, it will be an honour to serve with you". I immediately feel uncomfortable with the situation. I didn't want to become the Mockingjay and I certainly don't want to be idolised by someone who I will have to work with. "It's Katniss, please call me Katniss" I say. "Very well, I apologise" Helsa replies.

Then a male stands up and salutes Paylor before the rest of the table. I can feel my eyes beginning to role but I look down at the table, now would perhaps not be the right time to cause offence. "This is Corporal Stipar, your explosives engineer. He has served Panem for 15 years in this field" Paylor says. Before he has chance to speak I look up, "Served for 15 years Stipar, how old are you and what exactly have you blown up?" I say. "I'm 45 Katniss and I was part of the squad that cracked the nut but before that I was involved in the testing of new ammunition for the hovercrafts" He says. "Before you were enlisted what district were you in?" I reply. "Originally I was from two, but once I learned my trade the Capitol sent me to your district to supply explosives for the mines".

Already I do not like him, it's not his fault but in just a few words he has already mentioned 3 things that I didn't want to hear again. The Nut, District 2 and the mines.

Paylor's holo begins to make noises, she presses a button and speaks "Ok, we are on our way". She turns back to the table and looks at me. "The rest of your squad are just down the corridor waiting, you can meet them on the way to the roll call room, I'm making an announcement to 13"

As we walk down the corridor Peeta taps my shoulder. "Looks like they have a great squad for you Katniss, it's going to be fine". I try to smile at him but I just know that some of them will probably not return home once we go to war. "

Paylor opens a door at the end of the corridor, the smell of oil and gunpowder fills my nose. I almost have to cover it as I walk in. 6 more people stand before me, Paylor stands in front of them and they all stand to attention. "Katniss, here is the rest of your team". As she moves across the line of individuals I notice all are carrying rifles, some even have grenades on their belts. It seems they are already to go, as if they have known for hours that we had a mission. "This is Tenney, Gauis, Ivory, Frostine, Tressa and Fergus, they are all Private First Classes". I sense that Paylor is beginning to become a little hurried, probably beginning to feel nervous about her impending speech to all in 13. I just nod to them all; hopefully we will have more time to speak before any of them actually have to fire their weapons. "These are the best of the recruits we have, they are all volunteer's Katniss, and they joined our forces to help you" Paylor says before walking through the door way.

We leave the room before turning to the podium; Paylor walks ahead and moves towards the microphone. All the screens flash the Panem logo before they all show her face. I have never heard Paylor speak apart from when we were about to storm the Capitol.

"People of Panem, thank you for your time. As you are aware it was in agreement that only for emergency announcements that attendance is mandatory. This message is being broadcast to district 8 and the Capitol."

Peeta whispers to me "I wonder why only district 8, why not announce it to the whole of Panem, surely they need to know?". Gale overheard and says "It's to avoid mass panic across the nation, don't worry people if they don't need to know". For once I agree with him, there is no point in causing families distress if they aren't affected.

Paylor continued "Earlier this week we discovered that the island of Precia is attempting to declare war on Panem. As yet we do not fully know their reasoning, but we have already assembled a squad to investigate and remove any threat. Katniss Everdeen our Mockingjay has agreed to command the squad throughout the conflict." Cheers are heard throughout the hall, I once again become embarrassed like I was when I became the Mockingjay. I am no personality; I just do what I can to survive.

"Our reconnaissance aircraft sighted and unidentified aircraft yesterday over districts 8 and thirteen, it was patrolled out of Panem airspace. However, during the interception, the aircraft dropped propaganda over both districts. It has also become knowledge that this morning some people of district 8 have been going missing. Tomorrow we will be sending a task force to the district to gather information that will aid our response. Please be aware that Panem will be increasing its security measures and a curfew will be in operation in both these districts and the Capitol. To avoid any conflicts with our security please stay inside your homes after 2200 hours".

"We will give further updates over the Panem broadcasting service when we feel there is anything relevant, thank you for listening and enjoy your day" she says.

Paylor turns away from the podium and walks over to me. "Katniss, I need you, Peeta and Gale to see Effie on topside she has your uniforms ready. She has been working on them for the past 2 days. You have 3 hours; you will be leaving at 1900".

I feel my heart beating; it's so strong it feels as though it has moved up into my throat, this isn't war but I know now that every day from this point on will get progressively worse. "Peeta, we need to see the children now". Paylor puts her arm around my shoulder "You have plenty of time to see them, go, everything will be ready for you when you get back".

We all enter the escalator back to the surface, nobody speaks, even Haymitch looks downhearted, everyone is thinking of what lies ahead of us and if they will live to tell yet another story about the history of Panem. As we go up through the levels one by one people leave to say their goodbyes to whomever they hold dear. Gale shakes Peeta's hand and just looks at me before turning away to go to his room. We walk across the yard leading to our house. In the distance I see Rye running towards us, mother standing on the doorstep holding Willow.

"I'll leave you to it, see you in a while at our house, I could really do with something before I'm confined to that sweaty comms room". Haymitch says. "I will see what we have, I can't promise anything" I reply. A grin appears on his face, bigger than I have seen since he arrived. That man and his drink, but I know deep down it's what he used to help him forget the games, to help him forget screams and to help him forget the terror that follows them.

Rye jumps up wrapping his legs around my waist, I immediately realise that he must have seen what Paylor had said. "Hello my little warrior, have you been watching the screen" I say pushing his hair from his eyes. "Yes, I saw your face, you looked funny" he says. They must have shown other things on the broadcasts outside the command centre. Beetee's work no doubt.

We reach the house; Mother looks upset like she was when we knew I had to go back into the games. "Don't worry Mom, we are only going to check out a few things in 8, there will be no guns involved" I say.

"I know Katniss, but how long will it be, there's going to be a war I know it". I see a tear appearing in her eye "Don't cry mother, we will be ok, you hear, ok". I say putting my hands on her arms. It's Rye I need to be reassuring not my Mom, but I don't want her losing the confidence she had now, I don't want her back down there.

We walk inside and I sit down and put Rye on my lap, Peeta looks over and smiles, it's a genuine smile but the rest of the face shows pain and worry. He walks into the bedroom and sits down on the bed. Mom goes and hands him Willow and then goes to the kitchen. Almost as soon as she leaves I hear Peeta crying. I want to go to him but I have to speak to Rye, he's still young but he is clever, I need him to know what's happening before he finds out from anyone else.

"Rye" I say looking deep into his eyes "Your Father". I am fighting back the tears; I have to be strong. "Your Father and I are going away for a little while, there's a nasty man that wants to hurt to people here and we are going to make him stop" I say.

"Why don't you just tell him not to, he can't hurt lots of people, he's only one man" he says. I know I have to explain that it's not just him but many and people won't just be hurt. "The man has lots of soldiers, they have guns and they want to fight with people in Panem. Mummy and Daddy have been asked to help. You remember when I told you about when mummy was a Mockingjay. They said I did that well at it they want me to do it again" I say.

"Ok mummy I understand, you need to wear those clothes again, the ones that make you look really smart!" Rye says with a glint in his eye. I laugh and say "I am not sure, I have been told I have new ones to wear, I am going to get them in a moment".

"But mummy you said when you wore the clothes last time lots of people died, you're not going to die are you mummy?" He says. It's the moment I have dreaded the most, do I have to tell my young son that I may never come back. I can't stop them now; the tears start running down my face falling on to Rye. Before I can answer he puts his hand on my face trapping the flow. "Don't cry mummy, I will look after Willow and Grandmother until you get back".

That is what I needed to hear, I just had no idea that it would be my son that would say it. The tears stop falling and I feel my whole body tensing up, determined, positive and now believing that I can do it one more time. "I will be coming back, I don't how long I will be but I will see you soon my darling".

After a few moments I set Rye on the floor and he goes over to Buttercup and I enter our bedroom, Peeta has stopped crying and is rocking Willow. "Your right Katniss, I am not going to let a spoilt brat who thinks his father was doing good come between us and our family." I hug them both and say "I suppose we should go and try on our new costumes, perhaps Effie has got gold in them somewhere". Peeta laughs "As long as we have matching boots I don't mind". We walk out and I go over to Mother. "Are you going to be ok, Haymitch and Effie are just over the path, you can call them at any time. Please look after the children" I say. "I will Katniss, I like it up here now and Buttercup has room up here, I can't lock him away again" she says as Peeta puts Willow down.

As we walk to the door I pick up a small bottle of alcohol from the counter and shout over to Rye "Look after them all for me, and you look after Rye - Buttercup". We head out closing the door behind us. I stand still for a moment taking in a deep breath and wiping my eyes. It's time to get suited up.

I knock on the door. Effie opens it, she looks happy to see us "Come in my darlings, I hope you like what I have made for you. Obviously I am no Cinna but I have studied his work and think I have managed to carry it off". Haymitch is slumped in a chair at the side of the room, I walk over and hand him the bottle. "Katniss, you must pass on my thanks to your mother, she really is a great doctor" he says getting up and picking up a glass. Effie seems a little annoyed but after a moment she turns back to us and smiles.

"Here's yours Peeta". She hands him a black jacket, it almost looks as though it's made of rock, but on closer inspection it's just reinforced metallic wool. On the back are two clips, down the sides are several pockets and what appears to be a keypad on one sleeve. "What's the clips for?" Peeta says. "That's for your electromagnet thing. It secures on the clips and the keypad allows you to control it without taking it off your back". Effie replies. She then hands him the trousers, "These have an Exo-shell which will help you when carrying the Pack and it will also allow you to jump a little higher. Just remember that you come back down again" she says laughing. Peeta looks at the trousers and grins. "Your boots have a radio receiver and tracker so your group will never lose you— well you won't get lost". She clears her throat as if she was about to say something she wasn't supposed to.

"Now for my Mockingjay— sorry, commander." The suit is not separate like Peeta's apart from the boots it's all in one; it's the same metallic like material but it doesn't have any pockets on the front. There are two clips down one side for the holo and side arm.

"Here on the front, this is a bullet proof chest piece, it will self-replenish so if you ever get hit it will just repair itself. Everything is so that you can get anywhere without a problem, nothing that will get in your way". Effie says.

There is also a keypad on the arms similar to Peeta's. "These for the arrows" I say. "Yes Beetee insisted on colour coding the buttons and he told me to put letters on them so you don't get confused". Your boots are the same as Peeta's, just a little more lady like".

I look at the clothes "There beautiful Effie, Cinna would have been proud" I say. She seems to become bashful like a girl that has just been given an award in front of class. "Thank you Katniss, you don't know how much that means to me coming from you" she gushes.

We put on the clothes and stand in the living area Haymitch stands up, having had some time with Moms medicine he is a little uneasy on his feet "You both certainly look the part, I just hope those rookies are as good as you two when the chips are down" he says.

Peeta walks over to Effie. "Thanks Effie they are great; I feel safer wearing them" he says. Haymitch puts his arms around me and hugs me. "Katniss, be safe— for the both of you" he says with an element of sadness. "I will be with you every step of the way; I won't let anything happen to my friends, heck I don't have many to lose".

I take a deep breath and look him straight in his eyes. They are a lot warmer than I remember, they used to almost always be glazed over from the alcohol intake. "You say you don't have many friends to lose but where did you go? You left the victors village, never even said goodbye" I say.

Haymitch puts both hands on my shoulder almost pulling me towards him "Katniss I needed to get away, just like you did. Time eventually heals wounds as long as they are cared for. After I knew you were ok, you and Peeta had resolved your differences my job had come to a natural end, you longer needed mentoring." He says dropping his hands by his sides, he begins to grin, almost laugh.

"Besides I was running short of medication. I stopped in the Capitol for a year or so and now I am here once again to make your life a misery. In the nicest possible way of course" he adds.

"Right, we better not keep them waiting any longer I suppose; we should head off to the launch bay" Peeta says.

We walk towards the door and Haymitch follows giving Effie a kiss on the cheek. We head out towards the elevator to begin our first mission, my first mission as commander.

We enter the launch bay and the squad is lined up either side of the hovercraft doors as if we were already victorious. Gale is stood at the bottom waiting. "You two ready to go" he says. I guess now isn't the time to change my mind and I nod. "Ok squad prepare for take-off, I will give you the intel in the air, after you Commander Everdeen" Gale says. I feel a little taken back by his announcement; although I get the feeling he actually meant it, willing to be under my command.

We get into position to launch and Gale hands me a holo and earpiece "Check with command make sure its receiving ok" he says. I clear my voice and press the connect button "Command this is Katniss are you receiving me ok?" I say. "Affirmative Katniss this is Beetee, Command receiving clear. You have been assigned the call tag of ghost; please use this in future communications. This will prevent any identification of you". I am already getting confused by all the technical talk, I am sure I will mess it up but I say "Ok Command, ghost understood"

We take off through the narrow opening at the side of 13 and head for district 8. After around an hour Gale stands up "Soldiers our mission is to land in district 8 and search the area for any signs of what may have happened. We don't know if there are any hostiles so be on your guard at all times. Any questions ask Commander Everdeen; she will be in direct contact with command". Out of the window I notice another 2 hovercrafts line up in formation next to us. My holo lights up "Good Evening Ghost this is ER002, we will be providing support and cover for your mission". Its Cressida, I want to talk to her but I know that would be seriously frowned upon and I don't want Gale to start to doubt me.

We enter district 8 with no problems, there appears to be no opposition to our arrival so it seems ground threat should be minimal if at all. The hovercraft begins to descend and we land in a clearing to the side of the main stretch of houses in the centre. Gale reaches for his rifle, puts his mask on and steps off first before quickly scanning the area with his eyes. He waves his arm and Peeta gets up and looks at me. "Let's go Katniss, sorry Commander, better get these masks on".

I almost laugh but I am being watched by everyone on the aircraft. They are waiting for my lead. "Squad, equip your masks. We don't know if the virus is still airborne" I say as assertive as I can. I walk down and join Gale, it's almost completely dark, only a few lamps dotted around the area can be seen and most of the houses are shut up for the night. The curfew in place means we can have uninterrupted surveillance.

Cressida and the other support hovercraft raw overhead and begin to circle around the area we are patrolling. As we walk to the main path we can see pieces of paper on the ground, they are wet from the rain that must have been in the area, I pick one of them up. It becomes clear that the disappearances are more than just random, they have been set up. "Command, this is Ghost, I am sending you through some Intel please confirm you receive it ok" I say, trying to push the crumpled piece of paper onto my holo. "Ghost, received ok, please standby" Beetee replies.

Gale and Peeta walk over to me while the rest of the squad stand still looking at one another. "I am getting a very bad feeling about this" Gale says. "We need to speak to the people here, find out how they got sick" Peeta says. "Squad, group into twos, go to each house and ask them how their people got sick and where they went" I shout.

"Yes Ma'am" many of them reply. "Good idea Katniss" Gale says. I look at him and frown. "Aren't you supposed to call me Ghost" I say. Gale laughs "You can use normal names when you're not speaking over the airwaves, only we can hear you anyway".

Gale heads off with the rest of the soldiers and Peeta comes to me. We walk for a short while before coming to a house with a dimly lit light on. Peeta knocks on the door. There's no reply. I walk round and try to pear through the window but I can only see a small strip of the room as they have curtains covering most of the window.

I see something in the doorway right at the back of the living area, it's a foot. "Peeta! Break the door down, there's someone lying on the floor". Peeta takes a step back and runs at the door, it doesn't budge. I see Gale in the distance running towards us. "I know what to do" Peeta says. He looks at his arm and presses a button. A mechanical hiss comes from his legs. He steps back once again and runs towards the door as he jumps his legs seem to get a burst of energy and he breaks the door down as if it was made of plastic. "I am already beginning to like Beetee's toy" he says.

As we walk into the room Gale has caught up with us "Katniss—" before he could continue we are in the room looking at two people lying on the floor dead. I go to put my hand on my mouth to stop myself from screaming forgetting I have a mask on. Peeta walks over to the man he is lying on his side with one shoe on. "They were trying to leave the house but couldn't get away in time" he says. Gale is walking around looking on the tables and floors. I walk over to the lady; she looks so peaceful nothing seems to be wrong with her but then I notice a red lump on her wrist. I bend down to get a closer look as I do a loud buzzing sound makes me jump so much so that I fall back over the lady. "Culakflies", Gales says. "There all over, most of them are dead but there are still some alive Frostine and Tressa have managed to catch a couple of them for investigation" he adds.

"We still need to find out where the people went, we can't do anything for these now" I say putting a cloth over the ladies face.

We head back up the path to re-join the others when I hear a shout "Commander Everdeen!" we run over. "There is someone here that knows what's happened". "Good find—" I say feeling really awkward but I can't remember his name, "Tenney, Commander" he says stopping my awkwardness "Thank you Tenney" I say to him.

The man, very old and barely able to stand is leaning in a doorway, we walk over to him "Sir I am Katniss from District 13, do you know where the sick people went". "Katniss— The Mockingjay?" he says, I attempt to smile at him through my mask. "They went to the coast, a whole line of them, must have been hundreds, maybe more" he says.

"Haymitch was right, they got on to the beach somehow" Gale says.

"Thank you for your time, are you feeling ok, do you need any medical help?" I say. "No, no, I'm too old for any bugs to bother about me, unless you can help with my back" he laughs.

We turn to head back to the hovercraft, I call command once more "Command this is Ghost, breach location attained and evidence collected, we are heading for the coast" I say. "Affirmative Ghost, well done on your find" Beetee says. Just as we enter the hovercraft Cressida calls in "Ghost this is ER002, cancel your next destination, we're already on our way" Cressida says. I am beginning to enjoy my new found powers; perhaps Plutarch was right all along, I am a leader after all.

"Ok ER002, see you back at command". I reply. We take off and leave district 8 behind. Whilst in the air Cressida reports that the beach along the stretch of 8 is clear but there are signs of vehicle tracks and there are many footprints in the sand all leading towards the ocean. Whatever was wrong with these people their cure was not in Panem, they sought help from somewhere else and it all points to the work of Joanus.

It's already well into the early hours of the morning but Paylor requests a debrief back in the command room. We are all very tired but glad that we have done what we were asked to do and no one got hurt.

Paylor is waiting for us along with Beetee and Haymitch "Thank you for attending the debrief, I know it's been a long day but we need to discuss what we have found out tonight and I will tell you the next course of action" she says.

Beetee moves round the table to a centre position. "We have attempted to track back through our surveillance around the time when the reports stated people were leaving district 8. Unfortunately, there is nothing showing up, our radar is very good but it can't track under water. It's obvious that some form of submersed craft was responsible for the disappearances" he says. He then turns to Fergus "Do you know what it could have been, from your time in the Capitol?".

I suddenly feel I need to know a great deal more about the people I am leading, how could Paylor bring in someone who could have been working for Snow.

"An Aquacarrier Beetee, I have seen blueprints for them but never seen one made, they must have been assembling them on Precia for years" Fergus says. "You didn't think to tell anyone about this before?" I say angrily. "Katniss, I can understand your frustration about this situation, we didn't have enough time for you to speak to your new squad before the sweep on 8. There will be an opportunity for that tomorrow. Fergus worked for Snows mechanical science team, he defected to 13 when you were rescued from the arena and Coin had him locked away for treason. We feel he is better suited helping us with knowledge of what went on under Snow" Paylor says.

Fergus who is now looking despondent says "I had no idea they were actually built but now it all makes sense. There was no need for them in Panem but perhaps this was Coriolanus plan all along. If there is anything you want to know Katniss—" he looks over to me sitting back in his chair, silence engulfs the room, everyone waiting for my response. "I think I need to know more about you all, you know everything about me" I say.

Haymitch who has been sat quietly leans forward. "It doesn't take a genius to realise that Joanus has created some form of illness using them bugs and made people of 8 seek help off the island. Question is what are we going to do about it?" he says.

Paylor looks at him for a moment as though she was telling him off with her eyes.

"I am planning a scouting mission on Precia, we need to know what Joanus wants with the people. If he was going to strike on Panem why go to the trouble to take people off the island, why not just kill them" she says. She begins to look through her book and looks up "We are not ready to land on Precia; we don't even know what they have on the island. I will send a hovercraft to survey the area first" she adds.

"I guess that's our next job then" Cressida says as she walks in to the room. "Good work squad" she says putting her thumb up to me.

Paylor looks across to Cressida, "We will be sending in 2 hovercrafts but we won't require you Cressida, Beetee has managed to rig up a remote control so we can send them in unmanned. They will be launched this morning. The data we receive will allow us to plan for our landing on the island".

Beetee looks pleased with himself "They will be sent in with radar switched off, stealth mode, Precia won't notice them at all until they see them visually, by then we should have enough information. We can also see if they are willing to launch any form of counter" he says.

"We will reconvene tomorrow at 1300, I suggest you all try and get some sleep. Katniss, I will arrange a room for you to have your meeting with the squad as soon as you are ready" Paylor says.

I get up from my seat and turn to the door barely able to walk, Peeta walks next to me rubbing his face. "This is going to be bad Katniss" he says. I know it will be, but at least tomorrow it won't be us doing the work.


	6. Chapter 6

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 12

**Chaper 6**

I wake up with a jump, a nightmare. District 13 was in rubbles and all that was standing was our small house. Mum was at the door shouting for Rye and Willow, they had gone, Peeta came running towards me holding a white rose. "This was in their room" he shouts.

Peeta is woken by my scream and holds me, "You're ok Katniss, it's just a nightmare, everything's ok". I am reassured by his calmness, his warm arms and I lie back down. The sun is streaming through the curtain in the other room so after a few moments we get up. "We need to find out where these recruits have come from, I don't want any more surprises" I say. Peeta goes into the living and gets the holo. "Better put a call in to command" he says. I speak with Gale and organise a meeting, hopefully that will give us time enough before Beetee sends his scouting hovercrafts out.

Gale meets us in a corridor near to the command room "Katniss we have a room for you here, do you want me to come in?" he says. "No, I think I can do this bit on my own" I say sarcastically. I open the door and they are all sat round on tables talking, suddenly the room falls silent as if I was a headmaster coming into a school room. "I will make this as brief as possible, you have all volunteered to fight our cause but after yesterday I want to know where you came from, what you can offer and why you wanted to join. I have no secrets, you shouldn't either" I say to the group.

They are more open than I thought they would be, Ivory is from District 3, experienced in communications and electronics; she was involved in the air defence that surrounded the Capitol. Tressa district 4 known for their fishing, she grew up on the seas and can help with navigation.

Gauis and Tenney both were training to be peacekeepers back in district 2, not only that, but as the district were known for their man made victors they both were heavily trained in close combat.

Frostine was the quietest of the group, she has a medical background, her family were unusual as the never really fit into any district and moved around. She came to 13 from district 5.

One thing that they all had in common was their anger of the Capitol, like many of our generation, I was surprised with Gauis and Tenney but no one was safe with Snow in charge. I feel a lot more at ease knowing that only Fergus was hiding something, he seems a nice enough guy if a little bullish.

Peeta and I go to get something to eat before heading to the comms room for Beetee's sweep of Precia. When we arrive only Gale and Paylor are there. "Where's Beetee, is it not going ahead" I say. "Beetee has to control the hovercrafts from the command room; we have a direct link into what the aircraft sees".

After a while Beetee speaks over the comms "Madam Paylor, the birds are just approaching the coast of Precia, no contact detected, you can switch on the feed". Paylor stands up and walks to the large screen on the side of the room, after pressing a few buttons a video is displayed of what the hovercrafts are doing. There are all kinds of diagrams and numbers displayed but the view out of the front is what I am most interested in.

The hovercraft saws over beautiful mountains before dropping into a valley. There are small villages dotted around, it looks peaceful, how Panem was for the years after Snow died. After a short time, a city appears on the horizon, there in the centre is a towering building.

"Going low level to avoid any detection" Beetee says. The hovercraft immediately swoops down and levels off almost clipping the trees below it. Suddenly an alarm begins to sound, Paylor gets anxious "Have they detected us Beetee, do they see us" she says. "No, it's some kind of force field, the hovercrafts have picked it up, I'll mute it and keep an eye on it here". The beeping stops as the unmanned craft flies over a high wall.

The centre building looms large in front of us, the hovercraft begins to bank to the left as it does I notice something below it. "What's that black area next to the main building?" I say squinting towards the screen. "It must be some kind of enclosure" Gales says. "That must be where they are being kept" Paylor adds.

Another alarm sounds this time a lot louder, so much so I have to cover my ears. "They have a lock on to the hovercraft Madam Paylor, beginning evasive manoeuvres" Beetee says hurriedly. It was too late; the signal on the video dies almost immediately. "Switching to 2" Beetee says. As the screen comes back on showing the 2nd hovercraft a cloud of smoke and fire drops down in front of it, the first craft was shot down. "Get it out of there" Paylor screams. "Just a little longer" Beetee replies. For a moment we can see the enclosure, there are crowds of people on the outside, it seems as though it's connected to the main tower. The only problem is the roof is as black as the main building meaning we have no idea who or what is inside it. Then like the first hovercraft the second video feed goes off and static is displayed on the screen.

"Beetee, can you collect all the data you have and bring it up here" Paylor says. "Doing it now, will have it up shortly" he replies.

"Well we know where we need to go now" I say. "Only thing is we can't go in on hovercraft; they don't seem to ask questions over there" Peeta says.

"We will see what data Beetee has, it looks like we will only be able to get so far in the air then the rest of the way will have to be on foot" Paylor says standing up. She leans forward putting both hands on the table "They are hostile that is clear, but we have enough munitions to fight any ground war. I am just worried what they have in that building" she adds.

Beetee suddenly rushes into the room "You need to see this Madam President". He presses something and the screen switches on, there as if in the room in front of us is a tall man looking back. His eyes feel like they are burning through us, what's more worrying is he looks strangely familiar.

"President Paylor, how are you?" The man says. "Joanus" Paylor replies. I feel my hands and head become unbearably hot, my throat begins to dry up. I want to get up and run out of the room but at the same time I have frozen to the chair. "Do you think we would just let you fly over our city on your sightseeing tour unchallenged, come on, you know airspace rules don't you?" Joanus says. President Paylor walks towards the screen "You also know the rules Joanus, but we are a forgiving land, we left your hovercraft alone" she says. He begins to laugh "My hovercraft? What makes you think that it was mine? Oh you found one of our advisory notices, weren't they excellently written" he says.

"Joanus, I don't know what you think you are doing but Panem will not allow it, are you declaring war on us". Paylor demands. "No Madam President, I am not and for your information I do know what I am doing, such a shame you don't". He replies.

Paylor is clearly getting angered by the way Joanus is speaking, he is acting very calmly, but is clearly hiding something from us. "What do you want then, where are the missing people" she says. "Oh don't worry about them, they are fine, we have treated them all and they are getting better. Now what do I want you ask? Well let me think; how about you stand down as President but before doing so in state me. You clearly don't have the slightest knowledge of how to run the Capitol let alone Panem, for example, who allows an unidentified aircraft fly across 3 districts and then over your military base? No the people of Panem will not survive under your leadership" he says. No one knows what to say, we are all looking around the room at one another.

"Well it's been great talking to you; just remember to wait for an invitation before coming into Precia again won't you". He pauses before looking over towards my direction. "You're looking well Katniss, how's the children, say hello from me" He turns to his right as the screen goes blank.

I don't know what I feel the most, my mind is switching between pure horror and uncontrollable rage. I stand up slamming the chair into the table, as I storm out of the room I hear Paylor's weak attempt to stop me "Katniss" she says. I am already waiting at the escalator before Peeta can catch up with me. "I am not doing this; we need to get out of 13" I say. "Where will we go, no where's safe, this is the best place for us. Remember we need to protect our children".

"Peeta, he's going to come for them I know it, he's going to take our children" I frantically say back to him. "I won't let that happen Katniss, never". He says looking me straight in the eyes.

We rush back to the house, I burst through the door and am relieved to see Rye sat at the table eating "Look Katniss, she's starting to walk". Mother says happily. I look down towards Willow as she tries to step towards me, her arms reaching up. I don't want to miss anymore of her life but she might not have one if we don't do anything to stop whatever Joanus is planning. If he gets back in control of Panem everything will be the same as when his father was President, perhaps worse.

We sleep well, no nightmares, no summons to command nothing to worry about. As we wake we hear rain hitting the roof, it sounds like hundreds of tiny stones bouncing up and down. I get up and check on the children they are both sound asleep. Walking across to the stove I notice something out of the window, I move closer and pull open the curtain. People are running around outside, most of them are heading to the entrance to 13 the others seem to be going to different houses. It's certainly not something you want to see just after you open your eyes. I am concerned but not enough to go outside, I don't know how many more mornings we will see as a family so I am content with just leaving them be.

Mother wakes up shortly afterwards, I make us both a drink and we sit down. "I am going to have to go down to the medical bay today, they will be wondering where I am, that is if you're not doing anything today dear?" she says. With what's happened over the last few days there is a strong chance that something will need to be done today but I hope it's not in the next few hours at least. "I think we are fine for the time being, you go do what you need to do, Paylor knows the deal I don't go anywhere if you're not around". She smiles and heads to the back to get dressed. Peeta is the next to wake, it's still early maybe 6 or 7am but we were so worn out even the hour's sleep we had was good. "What's all the noise outside" he says picking up a glass. "I am trying to ignore it, I don't intend highlighting that we are here, perhaps they have forgotten" I reply. He pours some water into the glass and opens the door.

I can make out some of the shouting, it seems some of the people have come back from Precia but they aren't here. Perhaps they have returned to 8. Suddenly a security guard runs past our house and shouts to Peeta. "They've gone mad, the people from 8 are fighting one another". Peeta quickly closes the door and looks at me. If this is true it doesn't sound like they have been cured at all, in fact it seems they are totally the opposite.

We wait in the house for a couple of hours and still no contact, I am beginning to become anxious, why are they not telling us what is going on, I would have though Gale would have contacted us straight away. The children wake and I make them breakfast, we have what I have longed for a while peaceful family time. This is what I thought it would be like once Snow died, but there are too many characters in this world that are hell bent on causing harm and suffering to the innocent.

Peeta has been in our room for half an hour until he appears wearing his military suit, "What's happened have you been told something" I say sitting forward in my chair.

"No but I don't like what I heard, you stay here I will go and see what's going on". He kisses me and the children and heads out into the rain. I have an urge to take the children out into the woods but I know that not only is that unsafe but also I might get reprimanded for leaving without telling anyone. I just hate the children being confined to this building especially Rye, he is learning so fast and he's just like me; loves being outdoors.

It's just an hour since Peeta left and the silence is cut short, the holo screen flashes and Gales face appears. I stand up and walk over to it waiting for the bad news. "Some of the sick from district 8 have returned, it seems they have been drugged in some way as they are attacking their own people, I have heard there have been a few fatalities already. Your mother is on her way back up to you now, you need to get ready we are going back to 8" he says. This sounds horribly familiar, just like Peeta was when he was liberated from the Capitol, hijacking and if it is this won't be a surveillance mission.

I get ready and just as I finish putting on my boots mother bursts in through the doors. "Katniss, it's terrible". She is breathing really fast and looks like she is in shock; the rain is really heavy now and in the short space of time it took her to get from 13 to our house she looks saturated. "Mother what, what's wrong" I say putting a blanket round her shoulders. "We have some from 8, they aren't going to make it, they have been beaten so badly" she says. This is what was worrying me, they have been hijacked and sent back to harm the people they know the most. This is Peeta all over again.

I rush to the comms room; along the way several people attempt to stop me but I am in no mood for exchanging pleasantries. I catch my breath as I walk down the corridor, I feel like I am going to need as much of it as possible for what I am about to be told.

Peeta, Gale, Paylor, Haymitch, Beetee and Helsa are already in the room sitting patiently for my arrival. Peeta turns to me as I begin to sit down, I can see pain in his eyes, he knows what it feels like to hate someone you love so much that you want to kill them.

"Katniss, I understand you are aware of the situation in 8" Paylor says. "Yes Gale has explained it to me, its hijacking isn't it?" I reply.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Peeta's head drop and he begins to look down at his legs. "We are not sure yet but early indications from the people we have in the hospital are pointing to that yes. We had the Culakflies examined and it appears they were engineered to deliver a dose of a hallucination and conditioning drug" Paylor says.

Helsa, who was sat almost in the dark of the room speaks "They were stung, the drug made them think they were sick because of the propaganda sheets their brains were automatically programmed to go to the first medical help they could get".

"Then they were hijacked somehow, packed back up and sent back to us to cause mayhem" Gale says as if he knew what would happen all along. "What are we supposed to do, we can help them and they need medical attention" I say.

Peeta stands up, at first I thought he was about to leave the room, it must be too recognisable for him. Everyone sits looking unsure what he was going to do next. "They will see anyone in 8 as an enemy, they will want to kill them and it won't matter if they are a stranger or family. When you have the urge nothing will stop you. It's as though your strength doubles; it took you weeks to help me and even now I still have moments where I see Katniss in a different light. I am not going to put ideas into your heads but simply trying to restrain them won't help."

Haymitch who has been sitting silently as though he was formulating a plan of action, put his thumb up towards Peeta "Madam President, in light of your information, the situation in 8 and Peeta's experience, I suggest the squad take full weaponry should you wish to act".

Paylor turns to look at Haymitch as if she was going to deny the request but she looks over to me, my face is expressionless. Haymitch is right; it will be a bloodbath if we go in unarmed. This is why I wanted Haymitch involved, his no nonsense approach and for the first time his word has to stand above hers.

"Very well, I will arrange for your munitions to be ready, we need to act quickly. If we don't Panem will begin to look at us as weak, not doing our jobs. I trust you to do the right thing while you're on the ground. Get ready the hovercrafts are ready and the rest of your team is waiting". She says.

As we descend in the escalator to the launch room Gale crosses his arms and stands in front of both of us, "You two be careful out there, Peeta are you going to be ok, you don't need to go if you don't want to, Paylor understands". I can see Peeta isn't himself; his smile has been replaced by sadness. "I'm ok, just while we are out there make sure you stay with Katniss" he says.

"What do you mean, we are sticking together you remember what you said, you want to be there to save me" I say angrily.

"Katniss, seeing all these people suffering how I was, I know what it's like, it might bring back memories. What if I turn again I won't be able to just walk into the forest, Gale needs to be around to save you, save you from me".


	7. Chapter 7

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 12

**Chaper 7**

We travel across district 12 the people down there unaware of the chaos that borders them then in distance a long towering flume of smoke bellows into the sky. Johanna shouts across to us "Well if 12 didn't know about what's happening they certainly will now".

The noise of the hovercraft speeding through the sky makes it difficult for anyone to hear but Gale tries to reassure the group "It could be anything; they will think it's just waste being incinerated" he says. I don't think it worked, the people on board are showing that their minds are saying that this is a bad idea. I grab Peeta's hand as I feel us start to descend his grasp is almost painful, I turn to him and look at his frail demeanour, he is going to see what his condition does to people face to face.

We touchdown and the pilot fires a smoke grenade that covers the plane hiding it away from prying eyes he speaks to me over the holo "Commander Everdeen, you are clear to disembark, we will have to leave the area as soon as your off do you copy". I frantically reply "Ok, are you staying close by". There is a period of silence before a somewhat weak response "We will try our best".

The door begins to lower and Gale steps up, Johanna is quickly by the side of him; the rest of us are a little more reluctant to leave the relative safety of the hovercraft.

"Katniss what's your plan of action" Gale says shouting over the departing aircraft. I talk to the group "We will break up into 3 teams, I will go with Peeta, Gale and Helsa, team two Stipar, Frostine, Gauis and Tressa. Fergus, Ivory, Tenney, Johanna your team 3. Make sure you're no more than 100 yards away from another team, you all have your trackers on so I can see where you all are. We will meet back here in 1 hour" I say.

We head off in our groups Gale is leading out front, we can hear screams in the distance along with shouting and crashing. As we get to the first path a man bursts out from a house with his back on fire. He rolls around on the floor attempting to douse the flames. We are stopped in our tracks, Helsa shouts over "Do we check on the casualty Commander?". "Have a look but keep your distance and from now on call me Katniss!" I reply.

We watch as she walks over, Gale checking out the area with his rifle ready, she finds a blanket near to the house and throws it over the man, she bends down and we watch as he sits up and pulls her to the ground. In a matter of just a few seconds she now has a half burned man on top of her trying to get to her face. As quickly as it happened there is a crescendo of shots fired and the man falls violently off.

We run over "Are you ok Helsa" I say, Gale comes up to the side of us smoke still rising from his rifle. "We need to be more careful from now on, we don't know who's hostile" he says. Helsa gets back to her feet brushing off her clothes "Just a scratch" she says wiping her face. "Did he say anything to you" Peeta says. "Just 8 is evil, 13 is hell".

We don't have much time to recover from the event when a woman comes running down the street towards us. "Stand down" Gale says lining up his rifle with her. She doesn't stop, the problem is we don't know if she is running to or from someone. "This is your last warning, stand down or we will fire" Gale demands. She begins to slow down to a walking pace. "Help us, please help us, my husband, my son" she says crying.

"Where are they" I reply to her. She falls to her knees and points to house at the corner. "Peeta come with me on this one" Gale says.

I follow them with Helsa a few feet behind as they enter the house a loud bang rattles the windows. They both quickly run in, before we can get to the doorway we hear more shots fired. I am too frightened to look in, what if someone else had a gun what if Peeta or Gale have been killed.

Helsa walks past me and into the building, she's close enough for me to hear "It's Ok Katniss they're both ok". I walk in and see Peeta bending over a man on the floor. "Peeta?" I say not knowing what to think.

"He was trying to kill the boy, I had to" he says rubbing his eyes. The women comes into the house and screams running over to her husband lying on the floor "Brena, my darling, why, why you". As she hugs the man the boy runs over to comfort her. Already I am seeing what Joanus is prepared to do and I already want the same outcome as his father.

As we leave the building we can hear shots being fired all around us, I begin to feel sick about what we are having to do, we are not here to save; we are here to eliminate anyone who is a threat. We walk back down the path checking on houses through the windows I notice some of the houses have been boarded up from the inside, some are empty the rest of the occupants seem to be ok.

Gale turns to me "We should go on to the next street and head towards the smoke" he says. Reluctantly we go along with his lead and start to walk down between 2 houses to the next row. As we turn the corner Helsa suddenly drops pulling out her rifle. In a split second she fires a single bullet we watch as a man falls from a roof 5 buildings down. "How did you know he was going to attack us" Peeta says.

"I didn't but why would you be up on a roof with all this going off". She says assertively. I have no response to what she says but I am certainly glad we have a woman who can shoot for our team. We carry on down the road towards where the man fell when I notice a door slightly open. As look across I see a small girl peering through the gap. "Gale, over here" I say beginning to jog over. As we reach the door the girl runs inside.

"Be careful Katniss, we don't know if this is some kind of trap" Peeta says pulling my arm back. I put my head around the door, everything is silent, a solitary candle burning. I walk in checking around the room. Gale walks by the side of me pointing his rifle at the walls and doors. As we slowly edge to the bedroom we hear the girl "Don't hurt me, please don't". I lower my bow and push the door open. The girl is sitting at the end of the bed; she is dressed in a nightgown which is covered in dirt.

"Hey there, we are not going to hurt you we are here to help" I say sitting down beside her. She looks at me; she has dried tears on her cheeks as though she had been crying for so long they had run out. I pull the cover up around her "What's the matter, where's Mummy and Daddy" I say. "They're gone; they went away" she replies. I can feel myself filling up with emotions; all that leaves my lips is "Peeta". He walks over to us and picks the girl up pulling the sheet over her. "We can't take her with us Peeta, it's too dangerous" Gale says.

"I know where she'll be safe, at least until we can get more people here" he says walking out of the house holding the girl, "Where are you going Peeta" I say trying to keep up.

"Gale, Helsa wait hear I will be 5 minutes" he shouts back. I am not going to let him out of my sights, we walk back round to the last path we were on to; the house with the mother and son, I wait at the top. Peeta knocks on the door, after a few moments it opens the women stands there, they talk and then the women takes the girl and kisses Peeta on the cheek. He walks back to me. "Well I wasn't going to leave her alone, I just asked if she would look after her for a while until we can send some help" he says.

I suddenly forget all that's going on around us, that's why I love him so much; he knows how to protect. As we walk back to Gale and Helsa we see Gale waving at us to hurry up. "There's a lot of shots coming from the West we need to get over there to see if any of them need help" he says. As we are running I hear a beeping sound from my holo, I look down and notice where the 3rd team are, all the locations are in the same area apart from one. "One of the team has been isolated from the group we need to get over there quick". I say and suddenly have a horrible feeling about Johanna.

We see 3 of them in front of us, Johanna is there, and I sigh with relief. "Katniss, we got overrun, we lost Ivory" She says out of breath. "What do you mean lost?" I shout back.

Gale is pacing backwards and forwards obviously trying to think of a way to get in. "Where is she" I say to Johanna "At the back of that house 4 maybe 5 of the hijacked charged us from behind she got knocked over we had to get out of there" she replies.

I look down at my arm and press the blue button labelled "F" a short hissing sound comes from my quiver and an arrow comes up. I take it out, aim and fire. "Cover your eyes" I shout. The arrow flies through the air almost humming, it hits the roof of the building where Ivory is. It feels like the moon has fallen onto earth as the sky is lit up in a bright white light. "Right let's get in there" I say running. As we turn the corner to the back of the house there are people crawling all over ground as though they were blind or had lost something. "Over here". Peeta says picking up Ivory. She looks in a bad way, unconscious bleeding from around her mouth and I can see patches of blood on her stomach and legs. "We need to evac now" Gale says. We run back out to the open area when I notice Gale isn't with us then it dawns on me. Rifle fire echoes around the buildings, its seems to go on for minutes before he re-appears. "I did what I had to do" he says walking past me. He is right they were a threat, they were hijacked but I hate the man Coin made him into, a soulless, heartless soldier.

We carry on walking back to the drop off point when I call in "Requesting immediate evacuation, we have a casualty" I say into the holo. "Affirmative, we will be there in five" a voice replies.

As we reach the evacuation point the other team is waiting, all of them sitting down on the floor looking exhausted "I have never seen anything like that in my life, they were relentless" Stipar says wiping his forehead. "Did you get many" I say worried about the impending answer. Gauis stands up "Put it this way, I am out of bullets" he exclaims almost enjoying the moment. Peeta sets Ivory down and she opens her eyes. "We did good?" she says squinting at me. I don't want to show her how I am feeling that wouldn't be how a commander should act so I smile, trying to be strong "Yes Ivory, you did great. When we get back you get better and I will see about a promotion" I say. "Sure thing Boss" she says closing her eyes.

As we sit there looking at each other on the return back to 13 Ivory takes a turn for the worse, she slumps down in her seat Frostine rushes over to her and injects some morphling. Then as we just begin to relax President Paylor speaks on my holo.

"Katniss, we have reports of people in district 7 going missing in similar circumstances to 8. We have Cressida on route already to asses" she says. I put my head in my hands "We can't cope with this Paylor, it's too much" I reply. "Don't worry I have issued a mandatory enlisting; we need an army not a squad. I have been discussing it with Haymitch; as soon as you get back we will explain what we will do next" She says.

The holo goes off and I look down, Gale shouts over "Was that Paylor? Is there an update". I am almost about to tell everyone the news when my throat becomes dry, I feel dread rush all over me. District 7, that's where Johanna's from, that's were her boyfriend is.

"We have to meet with Paylor and Haymitch when we get back, there have been further developments and they want to discuss them with us." I say avoiding the question, if anyone is going to tell Johanna I want it to be Paylor, I don't want to be part of any more peoples suffering.

Peeta is aware that my response to Gale was not genuine, he knows me too well now, things have moved on quite a bit from favourite colour. He knows I am hiding something. "You were great today" I say leaning my head onto his shoulder. "As soon as I saw that little girl I had purpose, it reminded me of our children. I forgot about what I was worried about and thought about what would happen if our children were in this situation, I would hate to think they wouldn't be moved somewhere safe" he says. I smile at him "I know Peeta, I know" I say.

"Jeez I need a hot shower and big meal" Johanna says putting her hands behind her head. "I just want to sleep for days" Stipar adds.

"Don't get too comfortable when we get back, we might be back out again in the morning" I say. I know that its more than definite that will be the case but for now I want to forget everything, just for an hour until we land.

Across the ocean Joanus walks into his operation's room, it has similar screens and keyboards to that of District thirteen but a lot smaller. It was never meant to be used for anything other than talking to the Capitol. People are busy working away in front of the screens there are images of the Districts and also two very large screens on top of the others showing numbers. Joanus stands beside a man with a map of Panem on the screen. "Sir, everything is going very well, we have managed to bring 91 from district 7" the man says. "Good and it seems 13 are running around like lost sheep, they have no idea what to do. No, wannabe President and her spoilt school kid are going to be able to recover from this" Joanus says. He moves to a women dressed in uniform it has badges on both shoulders and on the front, she is smart and looks to be a high ranking officer. "I think it's time we addressed Panem" Joanus whispers leaning towards the women. "I think you are right Sir; it will certainly help our next push" she says.

Joanus takes a few steps back "Attention all, I want to congratulate you all on your excellent work over the last couple of weeks but now it's time to increase our efforts, I want a feed into Panem's broadcast system in the next 15 minutes" Joanus says. The people stop work for a moment and listen before they begin rushing around the room; three of them sit at one computer which displays the same diagram of the defence system that Beetee designed.

Joanus returns to his office, "Layus, Mesita" he shouts, "Come and tidy the room, wouldn't want to have our first broadcast with piles of paper around". Layus and Mesita run into the room and quickly begin picking up paper, glasses and begin moving furniture around.

After a while a voice sounds from a speaker "We are ready to go Sir on your mark". Joanus clears his throat and puts a finger up. The camera in front of him begins to focus and a light beams to highlight him. The screen in the room switches on and a countdown is displayed.

Back in district 13 Peeta hands me a bread roll. "I can't believe she has started walking already, times are going so face" I say. "I can't believe we are having a meal together after all that's happened, Paylor must be having to rethink her plans or we would be out there again already" Peeta replies.

A crackle comes from the screens in the room and a picture of a crest of arms is displayed. It has an eagle flying above a city holding a white rose with the wording "Resurget ex Favilla - Radicem Rosa" written underneath. I walk over to the screen not sure what is happening then I hear the sickening fanfare that accompanied our public presentation before the games. I put my hand up to my mouth my eyes immediately focus in on the rose. The screen goes dark for a moment then there, sat behind a desk Joanus Snow, he doesn't look like what I had imagined, nothing like his father. He hasn't got the signs of drinking poisonous wine. I stumble back to my chair next to Peeta.

"Citizens of Panem, let me introduce myself. I am Joanus Snow son of Coriolanus. Several years ago there was an attack on the Capitol that led to my father's death caused by Katniss Everdeen your Mockingjay. The rebels who supported this attack and the military of District 13 who carried it out are not the people you think they are; they are now leading your Panem. You may not know that it was 13 who dropped the bombs on the defenceless children, it was 13 who killed many innocent people in the Capitol and it was 13 who forced untrained civilians in to battle leading to their deaths. The People of Panem were fooled into thinking that this group of people were the way forward, to end the symbolic yearly Hunger Games. But, and I ask you this; what difference is it from the children they killed, the innocent people they killed, the untrained civilians that were killed?"

I can feel a tear falling down my cheek, I quickly wipe it away hoping the children didn't see it, the thing I hate the most about this is he is right, it was us that killed the children, the people and it was me that caused the deaths of untrained civilians like Messalla and Caster.

"I will add that your Mockingjay from 13 also killed the next President, now is this any way for a democratic government to behave. Whilst I am talking about the government what steps have they taken to improve your lives I am sure if your honest you are in a worse state now than when my father was brutally killed." Joanus continues.

Peeta shouts across the room "Turn it off, I have heard enough".

"I will leave you with this, District 13, President Paylor do not know what they are doing, there has been a virus outbreak in a couple of your districts and they have been keeping it a secret from all of you. We are here to help and we will do everything in our power to make Panem a better place, thank you for your time" Joanus says. The screen goes off. Immediately my holo begins beeping, I put the earpiece in "Katniss this is Paylor did you see that?" she says. "Yes, yes I did" I reply, I already know what she will say next and look across to Peeta "We need to get feet on the ground in Precia, you and Peeta come to the comms room now"


	8. Chapter 8

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 15

**Chaper 8**

We all sit round the table for what feels like the 100th time but now for once I am hoping it won't be the last.

"Ladies and Gentleman, the announcement that Joanus has just made is a declaration of war against Panem. We now know that he wants to take control and is attempting to stir up hatred towards District 13. I have ordered a mandatory enlisting to our ground forces starting with 13 first, if and when we see fit, this will be expanded to other districts" Paylor says. Fergus coughs to draw attention to himself "Madam President do you expect a small island to attack Panem? Surely they don't have enough firepower to do any significant damage". There is a lot of tension in the room; I can feel it building up, everything is being decided without any of our input. Haymitch points to the map of Panem on the wall. "The damage is already being done, 2 districts already. This war will be on the ground and the only way to stop it is at its source, in Precia" he says.

"Thank you Hamitch, you are correct. We need to send in Katniss and her squad to Precia, the mission is simple but it will involve more than just hunting down Joanus. We need to know what they are doing to the people there. We need to destroy any chemical factories they have, any munitions need to be taken out of service and finally Joanus needs to be found. One thing is very important however, Joanus needs to be brought back here alive. Should he die for whatever reason I feel the public of Panem will turn against us and it will be unrecoverable" Paylor adds.

"We don't know anything about the place though they could have missiles pointing at the skies now, we won't even get close enough before we are shot down" Peeta says.

"Very true Peeta and that brings me on to the transportation. Hamitch and Beetee have been in full discussions on this and various options have been looked at and ruled out" Paylor says looking towards Hamitch. He stands up and walks over to us almost apologetically. "Katniss, there is no easy way to say this so I will just come out with it, you will be going in by boat. It's the only thing we have that won't be picked up by radar." He says. "We don't know what equipment they are using to ferry the people from Panem to Precia, not once has our radar picked up anything on our shores. I have assembled a craft capable of carrying up to 12 people. It's not pretty but it will get you there in a reasonable time" Beetee adds.

"Sounds like something they would have done in the world wars, honestly we are going in by a boat!" Johanna says. Haymitch frowns but doesn't respond straight away he knows the best times to talk to Johanna and now is certainly one of those moments to let that comment go. After a pause he whispers "We have no choice, 7 was the other district"

With all the intensity of the meeting I fail to notice that Ivory wasn't with us for the meeting. "Is Ivory ok, she still in the medical bay?" Haymitch returns to his seat and Paylor looks down. "I am sorry; Ivory didn't make it. The doctors did everything they could but she lost too much blood and had fatal internal wounds" she says. Once again I feel the anger building up in me, Peeta notices it and puts his hand on top of mine "You couldn't do anymore for her Katniss, if it wasn't for your quick thinking we wouldn't have been able to get her out" he says.

I hear a screeching of a chair being dragged along the floor, its Johanna, she has purposely turned her back on the rest of the group, I am not sure if this is in protest or to stop anyone noticing her being upset. I want to go over and console her but fear for the backlash I might receive. I stand up and look at Paylor "I don't want her replaced, it's too late to start learning names again and I know my team well now they are all I want" I say. "Ok, I understand Katniss" Paylor looks confused by my request but seems to be as understanding as she could be in the situation.

"When will we be leaving I need to speak to my mother" I say. Paylor stands up. "The rest of you may leave, please wait in the room next to the announcement hall, we will be with you shortly" she says moving around and sitting down next to me and Peeta.

She moves right up close to us so much so I can feel her breath "I am afraid you will be leaving now, we need to make the crossing in darkness, this will prevent any reconnaissance crafts spotting you" she says. "I need to see my children, my mother" I say clenching my fists under the table. "I am sorry Katniss, there isn't time, the crossing will take 3 maybe 4 hours we need you on land by sunrise" she replies.

"Katniss, we need to move the children, we can't leave them up there with what's been happening to the other districts, what if they attack 13, up there will be the first hit" Peeta says. "We can arrange for them to be housed down here if you agree, that would be no problem" Paylor replies. I look at Peeta partly in fury partly in sorrow, I know he is right. I now have to confine my children to what feels like a prison 30 stories underground. "Ok" is the only reply I could give and it took all my energy to say it. "We will sort out a room next door to your mothers, that way they will have room and still be close" she says trying to reassure me.

I stand up and turn away towards the door, Peeta joins me and we walk out into the corridor towards the room where I met the team for the first time. I feel like I did when I was walking up to the podium in the first games, terrified and knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

We open the door and the faces looking back at us are blank some of them are biting their nails, some tapping their feet, some even crouching down all to hide the stress and horror for what we are about to do. Paylor walks in behind us.

"Your craft is waiting at the dock in District 10, from there the journey across the ocean will take around 4 hours. Your equipment has already been transported for you to collect when you arrive. A hovercraft is waiting for you, you leave now. Any questions?" she says.

I am sure that every single person in the room has hundreds of questions but no one says a word. "What is our evacuation plan should we get into difficulty in Precia" I say, knowing that this would have been top of most people's list of questions.

Paylor paces the room backward and forward before putting her book down on a table behind her. "Look, I am going to be honest with you there isn't an evacuation procedure. Not yet anyway. You are going into a city we have no documentation of, we don't know what's on the ground and more importantly we don't know what is inside that building" Paylor says. Haymitch walks in front of her and pats her on the shoulder almost pushing her aside "We will get you out, just break whatever force field is surrounding that place and we will get you out, just try and bring Joanus with you eh?" It sounded like something Plutarch would say but I am not going to question it. Haymitch is on our side and I know he will do anything to aid our return.

As we go down the escalator I put a call through to our house using my holo. I know this is strictly forbidden but they have stopped me saying goodbye to my children. There is no answer so I leave a message "Mom, Rye, Willow. I am sorry we haven't come to see you today but Mummy and Daddy are going on that very important mission now. We are going to be away for a while but Grandmother will keep good care of you. You're going to live in the big tower under the ground too so that will be fun! Take care my darlings and keep safe, I love you both so much. Mother look after them and if anything should happen to the both of us Paylor has my demand for you and the children to be relocated off Panem, I love you Mom". I press the switch to stop the message before I start to cry. I needed to be strong, more than ever. If I had shown my hurt, they would have feared the worst.

The journey on the hovercraft is a quiet one, no one really says anything. The only enjoyment on the ride was 5 other hovercrafts lining up next to us giving us a salute as we head into District 10. It was a great site but it felt like they were celebrating us flying to our deaths.

The doors open after we touchdown and we all get the first glimpse of Beetee's creation. The thing that strikes me is it's a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be. It looks like a small speedboat, although it has no windows apart from a small slit on the door no bigger than a ruler. I walk round with Peeta to look inside; there is a metal door with just enough room for one or two people to stand behind.

My holo goes off "Katniss, have you boarded yet" Beetee says. "Not yet, I am not actually sure how you get into the thing yet" I reply. A loud clicking sound starts coming from the door and after a couple of seconds it springs open in front of us showing some steps leading down. "Go ahead climb aboard" Beetee says excitedly. I look at Gale and walk down the steps, they are wet and I almost slide down. As I get to the bottom everything is eerily dark apart from 2 red lights at the front. "Good, now if I just press this" he says. A flash almost causes me to cover my eyes the whole insides are lit up with a cool blues light. It looks bigger than it does on the outside. Nothing exotic but enough space for our journey. Gale walks down behind me "How do we steer the thing then". I am about to ask the question when Beetee replies. "I can hear you and you can talk to me directly from inside the craft. Its remote controlled I will be controlling it from here in Command" he says. I am already not liking this idea and Gale confirms my fears. "So what if something happens to 13 we will just be floating around in the ocean and I take it we aren't coming back in this?" he says.

"The craft has a beacon which is automatically tracing a route from a tower in District 12, if anything happens to 13, it will automatically redirect to 12. That goes for any hovercrafts sent in. We don't expect you to return by ocean. Hopefully if everything has gone well we will be able to send in hovercrafts to get you all out, like Haymitch said we will try our upmost to get you out". I snap back at him "He said we will get you out, not try to get you out". "Quite right Katniss, we will" he says, although I don't hear any honesty in his voice.

Gale stands at the top of the steps and calls the rest of the squad in. After a bit of pushing and shoving we all sit down and the door closes. A screen lights up at the front showing the outside, with there being no windows it's the only form of visual we have. "Ok, launching now, good luck team" Beetee says. A large bang sounds and we all jolt to the front. "Ahem sorry, I pressed forward instead of backwards, my mistake". "The confidence is draining away from me Beetee" I reply. Peeta looks at me smiling. We feel the craft turning before we feel the sensation of it accelerating; we are on our way to Precia.

The journey across the ocean isn't the best form of travel, it's nothing like the carpet like feeling of the trains, no this more resembles a fairground ride, Beetee probably couldn't compensate for the ruff waves and we are bounced up and down, left and right. Some of the squad on board clearly aren't the best of sea travellers and I notice one or two of them trying to hold back their dinners. The moon shines bright in front of us there isn't a cloud in the sky. While I am gazing out of the small slot we have for a window I notice a small black object in the sky.

"Beetee there is something in the air in front of us, it will see us?" I quickly say. "It's a scout aircraft Katniss, they won't pick us up we are totally undetectable, although I do advise on silence just in case. From now on don't call me, I will contact you if need be" he replies. We all fall silent almost to the point of holding our breaths; the squad struggling with their dinners are now trying harder to cover their whole mouths. The hovercraft begins circling above us and for a moment we lose sight of it as we move beneath it, then as quickly as it came into view it turns around and begins to head back to where it came from descending as it does so. "It going to land, we must be close" Gale says.

I look across at my team Johanna is looking visibly scared. "It will be ok Johanna we will get through this" I say. "I am not worried about me Katniss, I am worried about Marcus, I haven't heard anything from 7 since Haymitch told me they had issues like 11" she replies. I had completely forgotten about 7 I was so wound up in my own worries. I should have demanded Paylor find out if he was ok. "As soon as I can I will get Paylor to put a search out for him, find out if he's ok" I say leaning towards her. She doesn't reply, just grins at me but I don't think she believes me.

"We are approaching Precia's coast get yourselves ready to disembark" Beetee says over the speaker. Gale is sat opposite me so I lean forward "Gale, I can't do this all on my own, I need help" I say. "No problem Katniss, it's the least I can do" he replies before standing up holding on to a rail above him "Ok team, we will be landing in 30 seconds, ready your gear; as soon as the craft stops I will be the first out you all follow me and remember; Be ready for anything" It wasn't an inspirational speech but it did the job, it switched everyone's focus on what might lie ahead. Snow had dreamt up all kinds of horrific devices for the games and when we get into the Capitol to stop us, who knows if they will be used again here.

The craft comes to an abrupt stop; we all fall forwards banging into each other but Gale is already up the stairs. As the door opens he lifts his rifle up and jumps out. "Ok, let's go" he shouts down. I walk quickly to the stairs Peeta behind me, as I get to the top Gale lifts me up and off the craft. We are on a white sandy beach with small hills in front of us, it's completely dark, no lights, no buildings, no people. I immediately want to use the holo to say well done Beetee for getting us in safe but I know this could give away our position if there is anyone listening in.

In less than a minute we are all off Beetee's craft and have our weapons at the ready. "We need to keep together" I say to the team. "If anyone spots anything or has any problems let me know straight away, I want us all to get off this island". It's the best I could give them, they know I can't promise anything but at least they now know that I will be trying to get everyone back to Panem safely.

"I have updated your holo Katniss, it doesn't show much but your objective is shown so hopefully it makes that bit a little easier, no need to respond" Beetee says over the holo. I kneel down and press the screen, the map of Precia is shown and a green circle over the large building I think; well that's we are going, where are we? Then I notice a red flashing square at the bottom 60 kilometres away.

"Gale, Peeta, have you seen how far we have to walk" I say, putting my hand out to show the holo. Gale and Peeta huddle round me and peer into the small screen. "We better get a move on then, we are too exposed here" Gale says. "Think yourself lucky you don't have to carry a box full of radiation on your back the whole way" Peeta replies. I turn to the rest of the squad who have just about got over their sea sickness. "We have a long way to go to our target, we need to find cover and work our way towards the city. Helsa, I need you to scout out ahead of us, see if you can see anyone. We need to know how these people dress and find some clothes to put over our uniforms so we can blend in" I say. "Tressa and Fergus you stay close to me, I need you both to get us to where we need to go, if you know anything we should be aware of Fergus tell me immediately. The rest of you stick together I don't want to lose anyone before we actually get to the objective" I add.

We start walking away from the coast everyone seems to be in good spirits even though none of us know if we will get off this island alive. After 30 minutes we begin walking up a hill, with most of my life spent jumping from log to log in the forest outside 12 I am used to the physicality of it, but some of the group are already beginning to get left behind. "Come on guys not much more to go until we get to the top then it should be all downhill from there" I say trying to rally the team. As we near the top the ground seems to become boggy and I am even struggling to stay on my feet, the boots that Effie designed me though are helping, no water is getting in and it feels like I have nothing on my feet at all.

I can now hear heavy breathing and panting behind me so I slow to let everyone catch up, as they join me we go over the crest of the hill. What we see in front of us is not only beautiful but daunting. There spreading out into the distance is valley with a dense forest surrounding its base looking further it seems this will not be the only hill we have to climb and we are only just a couple of hours in.

"Katniss, is there not an easier way than going up and down hills" Johanna shrieks from my side. I turn to look at Tress and Fergus their response is all I need; they both shake their heads in symmetry. I sigh at the thought of not only climbing hills for the foreseeable future but the calls of "are we there yet" from the people around me.

As we reach the foot of the hill and enter the forest I realise that we have not been supplied with any food for the trip, just canteens of water "Keep your eye out for any game" I say to Gale pulling my bow out "We don't know how long it will be before we can get any food". "If I had known we were going camping I would have brought a sleeping bag" Johanna says sarcastically. I roll my eyes making sure no one can see me; this is the longest period of time I have been with Johanna I just hope it's not all like this.

We continue walking through the gloomy forest flow as the sun begins to rise above the hills in front of us. As it does it creates rays of light between the branches and leaves lighting up areas of the ground, its feels like a dream, I am back home in 12 hunting. Gale being clumsy causing the one bird I see for an hour to fly away. Without me even looking for anything there just a couple of hundred yards in front of us is a deer, I wave for everyone to stand still and be quiet. Gale has already begun to strafe to the left in case it decides to bolt that way. Then my mind suddenly goes blank, which arrow is which again I whisper to Peeta. "Get me a normal arrow, I think they are the black ones" I say. "Yeah it would be good not to blow the thing up wouldn't it" he replies jokingly. He passes it me and I nock the arrow. I take a deep breath then my holo beeps and the deer previously oblivious to our presence darts away into the bushes in front of us.

"Katniss, are you hearing me" Beetee says. "Yes Beetee, you just frightened off our breakfast" I reply. "I have pulled back the craft from the coast, just in case anyone goes near that area, we don't want people to know you are there" he says. "How far, surely the hovercrafts will spot it out in the ocean" I add. "It will be monitored 24/7 if anything comes within range I have the ability to sink it from here". He replies.

I now know that this is more than likely a one-way ticket, Paylor doesn't expect us to get home at least not the way we came in, I look up to the canopies above me hoping Haymitch can pull something off to get us all home. Strangely that gave me an idea; I give Peeta my Bow and begin climbing one of the large trees in front of me. I reach the top between two trees I can see what looks like some form of airbase, beyond it a large stretch of water then just about in my view is the tower we are heading for. I pull my holo out and take a photograph of it before climbing back down. At the base of the tree I call Beetee back "Beetee, I am sending you an image of the terrain here can you convert it so it appears on the map I have here". I say. "Great work Katniss, I am on it already. I will upload it to your holo as soon as I can" he replies.

Gale walks round to me smiles, pats me on the back before crouching down a few feet away. "Good thinking Katniss, I will be able to help us from that" Tressa says. I am silently proud of myself for thinking of such a small thing that could help us reach the city a lot quicker than it seemed. After a couple of minutes, the holo beeps and the new map is displayed showing heights of the hills, breaks in the forest, the airbase and the water. All the distances are now displayed. "We should be over the hills in 2 maybe 3 hours from that, the airbase will be a problem though but with that lake it's our only route other than adding another 60-70 kilometres to the journey. I can see a small town that would be a good place to scout for clothes before heading into the city" Tressa says. I turn around searching for my bow, "Peeta, where's Peeta!" Gale lifts his gun up and begins running into the forest "You all stay there, don't move!" he shouts. Just as he disappears behind a large tree I hear him laughing.

He reappears and there walking beside him is Peeta dragging a boar behind him. I run up to him, wanting to slap him but I can't and kiss him on the lips. "Nothing to this hunting" he says laying the boar down. Gale smirks "I'll go get some wood we can eat here" he says.

We sit in a circle around the fire eating Peeta's catch; it really is a good meal that will set us up for the hours ahead of us, or at least until we reach the town before Precia's centre. Johanna lies back in the leaves letting off a big sigh. "That's better Peeta, you have a good man there Katniss, do not let him out of your sight" she says. I look over at Peeta gazing into his eyes and reply "I know; I know he is".

We sit and allow the food to digest for about an hour; the sun is well above the hills now making it a lot easier to see where we are going. "Right then guys let's move out" Gale says lifting his rifle and backpack. "Can I get a hand here" Peeta says looking at Gale. Gale helps Peeta lift the large black box onto his back; I get a warm feeling; I am so happy they are still friends even after all that's happened.


	9. Chapter 9

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 13

**Chaper 9**

With the good food we have eaten the rest of the forest and hills seem like small mounds compared to the last hill, we make good progress, reaching the top of the last hill. Down below us is the airbase, it's still quite distance but at least now we have almost flat land in front of us.

Even at this distance we can hear the rumble of hovercrafts firing up their engines. In between the jet blasts gun fire can be heard, obviously Snow getting his forces ready like Paylor is in thirteen. "8 Hovercrafts on the ground, 50-60 crew in view. There is a large hanger at the north east of the runway which I can't see into" Helsa says looking down her scope. "The people you see there will just be crew, not trained to fight, we will be able to slip by them with no problems. We just have to be careful of that hanger, it could be the entrance to a launch area which will probably be heavily occupied with Precia's military" Fergus adds.

"Is this still the best route" I say looking at Fergus and Tressa. "Yes, if we stick to the far side of the runway, keeping low, we should be able to get round it undetected" Tressa says. "And if they do see us" Johanna asks. "We can't let them see us; they have enough firepower on that runway to destroy a district let alone the 11 of us" Stipar says.

If it's one thing I am good at its sneaking around without people knowing. Growing up in 12 it was part of my day getting past Peacekeepers without them knowing, it's how I managed to trade so much game in the Hob. Then when I was taken to 13 I spent hours in the air ducts just to get away from the doctors trying to fill me with drugs. The only problem; I am not sure the others in our group are as quiet as I can be. "Ok we will walk down the hill keeping our heads down, as soon as we reach the base we go single file towards the runway" I say turning to the group.

We scale down the hill, the whole while I keep my eye on the runway, if a hovercraft were to take off now we would be spotted straight away. As we reach the bottom a loud screeching sound overpowers the jet noises. We all immediately drop to our fronts lying on the ground, just our heads above the tall grass. My eyes scrambling around for the source of the noise when I notice one of the hanger's doors begin to slide open. It seems to take ages for it to move far enough to be able to see into. "Katniss, this is bad, you need to see this" Helsa says almost shaking. She takes off her scope from her rifle and hands it to me. I peer through the lens at the building now with both its doors open. There inside are hundreds men all lined up in rows, all have rifles and what appears to missile launchers on their backs. It seems to be some form of roll call as they are all looking forwards. We have no chance against these; 11 of us against hundreds.

I take the scope from my eye and pass it back to Helsa "We need to wait it out for the doors to close, there are too many of them for us to get past" I say to Gale and Peeta. "We can get closer; I can't see any observation towers so they aren't going to see us from there. We are losing time Katniss we need to keep moving" Gale replies. Reluctantly I agree and we begin the walk over to the runway.

It takes us a good hour to get towards the fencing of the airbase, most of which we spent either crouching down or on our stomachs using the grass for cover, luckily in that time the large door has closed again. We are now close enough for us to see the security pacing back and forth as if they had set routes to take. I look at my holo hoping that there is another route around; unfortunately, the only way is between the main hanger and what seems to be munitions storage. "We have to go between the hanger and that building, there's a short passage, once we get through we should be clear and at the shortest point across the water" I say to the group.

Gale crouches down beside me "We need to think about this before we go in, if one of us gets seen we are all in trouble" he says. "Couldn't we cause a distraction somehow; I don't know maybe rocks, something to make a noise away from where we are?" Peeta says. It's a good idea but not even Peeta could throw a rock far enough away from us and for it to create enough noise to cause the security to investigate. "Don't you have anything on you Katniss; surely Beetee would have wired something up to your arrows, what about that flash one?" Johanna says. I begin to think of the different arrows he provided me with, then it clicks. "I'll fire the smoke arrow to the far end of the runway this side of the fencing. That should give us enough time to get through, hopefully they will think there is a fire" I say. It's the only choice we have and I hope it doesn't cause too much interest so that more than just the security is raised. "Ok, it's now or never then" Gale says.

I am all ready to go but suddenly thought "Wait, what happens when they find the arrow, they will know we are here" I say. Stipar moves in "I'll attach a small detonation to it, once it completes the smoke cycle it will blow up, nothing major but enough to scatter any resemblance of it being an arrow" he says. "Thank you Stipar can you do it now" I reply handing the green arrow. "Sure thing boss give me a couple of minutes" he replies already going to work.

The arrow is checked and checked again, it's time to go. We all punch each other's fists to show we are all in this together. Gauis clips the fencing and one by one we scramble under keeping low once we appear on the other side.

We scale around the runway trying to keep as close to the fence as possible, its proving more difficult than we thought, the military working here don't seem to be the tidiest of people as empty crates and used shells create a hazardous route. Whilst we are clambering over a box, Tenney stops and looks down. At first I thought he had dropped something but he bends down and picks up a large blue sheet of paper. I watch him scanning it over and then clenching his fist as though he had just won the lottery. He rushes over and hands it to me. What I have in my hands is a blueprint of the main building in the city, where Joanus is. I call Fergus over.

"I'm not sure how old this is and if anything has changed but yes, it looks like you've hit the jackpot there Katniss" he says excitedly. I pass it to Gale, although my suit is comfortable and practical Beetee obviously didn't think of me carrying anything other than my bow and the holo as he seems to have forgotten pockets.

A few more minutes and we are a hundred yards from the passageway. I take out my bow and the arrow that Fergus has modified. "Get ready, we will only have 30 seconds to get through without being noticed once that arrow lands" Gale says to everyone.

When I fire an arrow I have to calm myself down, slow my breathing so that my heart is almost at stopping point. At this moment though it's racing, my hands are shaking and I feel sweat falling down my forehead. I pull back on the string until it tenses, pause for a moment thinking about what I am about to do and then I let go.

The arrow whistles through the air, I get good distance and it clears the fencing. Just before we lose sight of it we hear a crack, the smoke igniting. We all stand still waiting, hoping that a plume of smoke appears. It had worked, a few seconds later smoke begins to rise up, initially it looked like someone had lit a campfire but then it grows and grows to resemble something that had crashed. "Go— go— go" I scream.

Like one we all hurtle towards the passageway, no one looks back, no one is checking to see if we have been seen. We all have just one thing on our minds, survival. We are at the munitions building, all the doors are closed but it has several windows. We bob up and down to conceal ourselves and then we hear a loud engine sound. A hovercraft coming back from a patrol is on its approach to land and has spotted the cloud of smoke, it's deafening as it accelerates to search the area. I can see the security pointing over at it out of the corner of my eye. We reach the passageway just as the hanger door begins to open. Out of breath and in need of water we file in out of view into the relative safety between the two buildings. The plan worked, everyone inside the airbase is more concerned about what the smoke is rather than where it came from. As Gauis cuts through the fence to let us out we hear the muffled sound of the explosive that Stipar attached going off and everything is peaceful apart from the distant sound of shouting.

We continue walking allowing everyone to get their breath back. After half an hour we reach the lake, the side we are on is baron, no plants, trees or flowers, even the grass is sparse. Looking over to the other side I see more tree's but the ground looks a lot more appealing than in the valley that we had to endure when we arrived on the island.

"When we get over we will find somewhere to rest for the night, once we are in the town I don't think we will have much opportunity to sleep" I say. Tenney wades into the lake and after just a few steps he is already chest deep in water "We're not going through it, not without something to float on" he shouts. We all begin to look around for something that floats but there's nothing not even branches. It's only about 200 meters across, but we would be exhausted before we could make it to the other side with all we are carrying. I feel a tap on my shoulder, "Will this help?" Frostine says quietly, she passes me a long coil of wire. "Frostine, I love you" I say kissing her.

I pull out another arrow and wrap the rope around it "Peeta, hold the wire so that it's loose" I say giving him the other end. I fire the arrow and it sticks straight into a tree trunk on the other side of the lake. Proudly I say to the group "There you go; a bridge". Peeta ties it back onto a large boulder. "Ladies first" he says grinning at me.

It takes us a while but one by one we traverse the deep water and reach the other side. "Let's find somewhere to stop and hopefully something to eat, good work people" Gale says. Despite the circumstances, why we are here, who we have left behind, being soaking wet and not knowing if we will ever get home, we are all feeling happy. Happy that so far everything has gone the way we wanted it to and no one is hurt.

I manage to catch some birds, and whilst it's not the feast Peeta managed to provide us, it's enough for the day and we all rest in a small clearing between the trees which allows us to remove some of the wet clothing to dry off. We take it in turns to keep watch during the night and apart from one or two of Precia Hovercraft flying over we get a good night's sleep.

I am woken by Peeta shaking my arm, I jump up worrying the worst only to find a coat covering my head. Pulling it off I realise why he woke me. From the sunshine and clear skies of the last 2 days the fall was setting in and it was pouring with rain. The trees were providing some respite but we needed to find proper shelter and fast. If we all get soaked again, sleeping out in the night will not be a good idea especially as the temperatures are now dropping dramatically. I quickly look down at my holo, we are just a kilometre from the first town. "10, 15 minutes we should be at the town" I shout to the group as we skip over fallen trees in front of us.

As we are running through, Tenney who seems to be a natural at sprinting suddenly stops up front, he crouches down and puts his hand up. We all scramble to the ground; I move forward on all fours to where he is waiting. He points over to a shack to the north west of us, a man is chopping firewood. I turn and wave Gale towards us "What do we do, he is where we need to go past, we can't sneak round him" I whisper.

Gale rubs his face thinking of something to say. He looks down and then turns back to me "We will have to kill him" he replies bluntly. "What! No, I am not killing him he is a civilian, there has to be another way" I reply. Too many people lost their lives in the uprising; Joanus was right in that regard we were no better than Snow sending tributes to the games. "He might give our position away; he could tell Joanus we are on the island" Gale adds.

Suddenly behind us Fergus shouts "Wait! Orivan?" We all turn round at Fergus wide eyed. The man turns around looking left and right trying to locate where the shout came from. "Fergus? Is that you, where are you?" he replies.

Fergus stands up and walks towards the man, he begins to laugh and holds his arms out. "What are you doing here Fergus, thought you were too busy helping the new government of Panem to come and visit your old Pal" he says.

Gale stands and then like a wave the rest of us climb to our feet. The man takes a step back and appears to be on his guard. Obviously the sight of random strangers appearing from the grass in front of him may have come as a shock "Don't worry about them, they're with me" Fergus says hugging the man.

Fergus turns putting his arm around the man's shoulder "Katniss, Ladies, Gentleman I give you Orivan Melsey; the best groundskeeper, Snows mansion ever had" he laughs.

I walk over to the two of them, apprehensive but no longer worried due to Fergus' demeanour towards him "Katniss Everdeen? It's a privilege to meet your acquaintance madam" Orivan says bowing his head and kissing my hand.

"I don't get many visitors out here; I can't tell you the last time I spoke to someone face to face" He says, He holds on to my hand and pulls me towards him "Thank you Miss Everdeen, you changed a whole nation with what you and your friends did for that I am eternally grateful" he adds.

For the first time I feel like I have done something right, Snow's actual gardener thanking me for his death. No one had actually said thank you or well done before it actually knocks me off guard. He looks quite frail; the years working for Snow must have taken its toll.

"I did what many people wanted to do; he had to pay for causing so many people to suffer" I reply.

"Well looking at you all in that clothing it looks like today's visit isn't for pleasure?" he says looking at the rest of the squad. "Come, come on in, it's not the biggest of places but there will be enough room to get everyone in somehow" he says opening his door.

Once we have all entered the shack he closes the door before bolting it, he then walks around closing the shutters on the windows and lights candles around the room.

I walk through the middle of the squad and stand in front of Orivan. "We are here for Snow's son, Joanus. He has been kidnapping people from our districts, hijacking them and sending them back to fight against us, he wants to take over leadership of Panem. We have to find him and take him back to 13" I say.

"I see" Orivan says nodding. "I don't hear anything nowadays I like to keep myself private. I didn't even know Joanus was here" he adds giggling. "When you have spent years under Coriolanus you want to forget it all" he says.

"Can you help us; we need to be able to get to his building undercover" Fergus says. Orivan sits down in a wooden rocking chair "Yes— You're not going to get anywhere near that city dressed like that, especially you Katniss, although the people here have lived here for years you are somewhat of a hero in these parts. You'd get spotted a mile off" he replies.

He begins to rock back and forth in his chair "Get some sleep, there is some broth on the stove, help yourself, give me the night and I will see what I can do" he says.

Orivan hands us each a bowl and we walk over and take a spoon of broth. I am not sure what meat is in it, I daren't ask with our host being so generous but it's not something I have tasted before. It has the texture of a bag of coal but it is wholesome and everyone is grateful. The shack has 2 rooms, its barely enough space for one person let alone 11. It takes a good while for us all to work out the best way to lie down, the floor resembles a jigsaw puzzle by the time we close our eyes.

The next morning, I turn over hoping to see Peeta's face, but rather than him I am greeted by a sweaty smelly sock, I lean up and see Stipar at the other end. "Stipar!" I shout pushing the offending foot away. I sit up, the rest of the team are still sleeping, its only just dawn but along with Peeta I notice someone else missing; Gale.

I open the door and walk outside, at the bottom of the garden Peeta and Gale are sitting on a log. "Talking about anything good" I say being inquisitive. I know Gale resents Peeta for being the one I chose, every time we were alone whilst Peeta was recovering Gale reminded me of times when we were together, but then discarded the thoughts as soon as I got close. Gale didn't lose me, I didn't know what I felt for him, but I know I love Peeta. "Just you Katniss, what else is there to talk about" Peeta says jokingly.

"Well it's definitely good then" I reply putting on my most lady like pose as possible.

I hear a mechanical sound in the distance, Peeta and Gale get up and run towards me, the noise is getting closer so we retreat to the door. Behind some trees a small truck appears, Orivan has returned. He pulls up at the bottom of the path and gets out. He pushes the door to but it opens back up so he kicks it closed. He leans over into the back and pulls out a box.

He begins to walk towards us "You don't expect me to hand deliver every box of clothes do you, there's plenty in there to keep you busy" he says strolling past us. We all rush over to the truck and start moving boxes to the shack. After a few trips we close the door. Everyone is now wide awake.

Orivan opens a box "There not the height of fashion but it's what folk where in the towns around the city. Like the Capitol the people there are a little more upmarket, but we're not restricted to districts like Panem, just can't eat in the best restaurants dressed in them. Just don't ask me how I got them" he says pulling out various shirts, trousers and sweaters.

"Thank you Orivan, these are fantastic" I say looking at a sweater. "I have brought them oversized, that way you can wear your normally fancy clothes underneath, there won't be many opportunities to change I don't expect " he adds.

We all begin to try on various combinations of clothes and after a few minor arguments over who gets what, we are all dressed as the town's folk of Precia are.

"Once this is over I will make sure you are compensated for your time and generosity" I say kissing Orivan on his cheek.

He smiles and laughs "I have already been compensated my dear child, you saved me from Snow. I am an old man now and I have something that money can't buy— freedom, and that's thanks to you". He turns around and walks back to the room at the back of the shack. In just a short space of time I have grown to like him and am truly sorry to be leaving him.

We filter out into the open once more, as we walk down the path I look over my shoulder one last time at the shack. Orivan is standing in the doorway, he raises his arm with the 3 fingered salute, we all stop and return salute back after a few seconds we then begin walking ready to make our final leg of the journey towards Joanus' building. In a couple of hours we will be walking straight into the middle of the city, with no idea who or what will be watching us.


	10. Chapter 10

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 18

**Chaper 10**

As we reach the outskirts of the town we are relieved to see people going about their daily business, no one seems to have a care in the world. Obviously Joanus hasn't communicated with them like he has Panem and they have no idea of his intentions.

Some of the town's people stop and look over to us before carrying on with what they are doing, perhaps that isn't that strange though, a group of people all entering the back end of the town from the forests. "We need to split up; we don't want to attract any unwanted attention to ourselves. If we all walk through here like this people will get suspicious" Gale says. "Break up into three's, but make sure we are all within sight of each other" I reply talking to the group.

The buildings here have the feeling of the capitol, not in the sense that they look expensive nor large for that matter but they look grand. They remind me of pictures I saw of places many years ago. We begin walking down what looks like the main road leading through the town, the houses packed closely together on either side. At the bottom of the road is a large church like building complete with spire and a clock.

Each house has its own border; some have small gardens others have a stone like area with chairs and tables outside. This is where I would love to grow old. Perhaps after this is all over me, Peeta and the Children can move here.

I look over the road and see the others walking trying to keep the same pace as us. As we reach the church the road splits off around it in two directions. I want to grab my holo and check it to see which route we should take but taking out such technology in public would be a huge mistake. "We just need to ask someone, you know, how people find places without three dimensional maps" Peeta says.

Gale stands looking at the others "I'll wait outside, you two go in there and speak to someone" he says crossing his arms. We both walk into the church, I am taken back by its beauty inside the ceiling is high and wooden beams go up on either side to support the roof. At the bottom a long row of candles lights up a small wooden doorway.

Peeta knocks on the door, after a few seconds it opens and an old lady comes out. "Hello dear, how can I help you?" she asks. "We are sorry to bother you but we have gotten a little lost on our way to the city, could you perhaps give us some directions?" Peeta says. The women's face changes from joy at her visitors to a frown. "Why do you want to go there, it's not a good place" she replies. I look at Peeta not knowing how to respond to what she said; it could be the people here are putting on a brave face trying to let things go over their heads as if nothing was wrong. "Our brother went there early last year and we have come to visit him, he's not very good with maps" Peeta says.

"If he's in Precia' city he's not the person you think he is, well not now anyway. If you find him get him out of there and quickly" she says picking up a cup of water. "Where are you from anyway, this is a small island it's very hard to get lost" she adds.

I begin to feel uncomfortable about the way the questions are going and I nudge Peeta in the back with my arm. "Oh we are from the north of Precia we seem to have come too far south" Peeta says trying to keep the made up story going. "Hmmm, well you need to take the left here and follow the path round, you will see a long road with stores and workshops, follow that down for around 2 kilometres; you will come to the edge of the city, don't worry you can't miss it, but I strongly advise not to go there". She walks away from us shaking her head back into the little room. "Thank you" I shout back.

Outside Gale is stood with Johanna and Stipar "So, which way do we go then" he says. "This way but I think she knows we are not from around here, she told us not to go to the city" I reply. "That can't be good news" Stipar says leaning against the building. I know what we will be facing but what's more worrying is people who live on the cities doorstep are telling us not to go there.

We take the left as directed onto the road; the surface has changed from grit to cobblestone. As we walk past one particular shop we hear an argument taking place outside, between what looks like the shopkeeper and a guard. Whilst keeping our distance I get a flashback to when Celestia came to our house back in 12. The guard was wearing the same black coats and long boots. I feel a shiver go up and down my body then I make out what the shopkeeper is saying.

"I am telling you, someone broke into my shop during the night and took all our clothes" the man says waving his arms at the guard. I look across to the shop, through the window there are 6 mannequins all completely nude. I can't help myself and begin to giggle. Peeta returns the nudge I gave him in the church in the attempt to stop my uncontrollable laughter. As we get further away, far enough for them not to hear we all break out in laughter. "Now we know why Orivan said not to ask where he got the clothes from" Peeta chuckles.

The sun is beginning to set above the buildings in front of us as we continue the walk to the city. As we turn a corner the sound of a hovercraft rattles above us going in the direction we are. My holo begins beeping; I wave my hand at Gale and Peeta and run over to a gap between two buildings before switching it on. It's Haymitch; "Katniss, how are you doing out there?" he says. "Good, we are making good ground just about to enter the city" I reply.

"I've got a bit of good news and bad news for you; I'm going to give you the bad first." he says before pausing. "Marcus, Johanna's boyfriend was one of the people taken from 7, he's in the city. We don't know where but my guess is he's with the others, we are hoping you can find them. It's on your call if you tell her or not" he adds. She needs to know, I would want to know if it was Peeta, it was the one thing that kept me going as the Mockingjay knowing I was helping to get him liberated. At the same time though I know how horrible it feels when someone you love is being held and you probably won't see them again. "The good news is both Effie and myself have moved down into 13, Paylor says it's a precautionary measure and she has ordered everyone up top to do the same. Effie is helping your mother with your children" he says.

Just then I hear a banging sound as though Haymitch had dropped his head set "Katniss my darling, don't you worry I am caring for your children whist you mother has duties in the medical bay, they are lovely" Effie says in her joyous voice. "Thank you Effie I really appreciate your help, how are they shaping up" I reply. "There fine, I have even been able to make them some new clothes, nothing special but the clothes down here are so drab, I've just given them a bit of colour that's all" she says.

The sound goes muffled again and I can make out Haymitch trying to tell Effie off for taking the microphone. "Ahem, Beetee has managed to survey the footage from the drones some more. The main building has some kind of force field round it, that's why it was showing up black on the screen. Some kind of defence I think, anyway Peeta's gadget will get you through that. A word of warning though Beetee says that he only has enough charge to create an opening twice, one in one out, you must remember that". He says in a stern voice. "Ok Haymitch I will make sure he's aware; anything else we should know about before we enter the city?" I reply.

"Katniss, you know as much as we do I'm afraid, just look after yourself and Peeta— good luck" the holo beeps and the line goes silent. I explain the situation to Gale and Peeta, they both agree that I should tell Johanna, if anything it might make her more determined to get into the building. Johanna is sat down on the floor with Frostine, Gauis and Fergus over the road waiting for the signal to carry on. I slowly walk over trying to think of the best way to break the news to her.

"Johanna, I have news from 7" I say. "He's dead isn't he, I know it; another member of the Snow family is here to ruin my life". She replies back already getting angry. "No, he's not dead, he's been taken with the others, Johanna he's in the city". I explain trying to calm the situation. "What are we waiting for then, it's just like when Peeta and me were in the Capitol, we get them out" she says raising her voice.

"We will, I will make sure of it" I say taking her hand.

The sun has set now and we can see a white glow in the distance over the last remaining buildings of the town. A brick wall that must be 20 feet high running as far as we can see in both directions is blocking our path "There must be a gate somewhere" Tenney says. "There will be but we can't go through that way" Gale replies "If we can get up over this wall we will be within the city boundary but I don't know what's directly on the other side" Fergus says. Whilst we are still thinking of a way up, Peeta steps back and drops the box off his back.

He leans back and charges forward, hissing noises begin to sound from his legs, with one leap he jumps up and grasps onto the top of the wall. We all watch as he peers over the other side waiting for the outcome. "Just a moat, maybe 4 or 5 feet deep, 3 or 4 feet wide, throw me some wire and I will secure it on the other side.

Gale launches a coil of wire up to Peeta and he disappears over the wall, the tension on the wire becomes tight. "You first Katniss" Gale says pulling on the wire. I grasp it with both hands and begin to climb, the wire feels like its cutting into my hands but as I reach the top, I raise my head and what greets me takes my breath away.

The city of Precia is lit up in glowing white beams, it almost looks like it is covered in snow so much so it makes you squint to block out some of the brightness. There in the middle is the towering structure, Joanus' command. Then I notice something below it to the left, a force field that must be 3 kilometres wide is covering its base. Frostine joins me on top of the wall. "Wow, it's so pretty" she says gushing at the picturesque view in front of us. "That must be where the district people are" she adds pointing at the force field. "Maybe" I reply.

After a few minutes we are all on the other side, Gale the last to come over carrying Peeta's box, he grumbles as he passes it back to Peeta about its weight.

"I think we should stay here until morning; I think we will cause more suspicion if we arrive at night" I say to the group. Everyone is in agreement, it's been a tiresome day Peeta hands me a piece of apple which he had been keeping in his coat, it's on its way to becoming mouldy but it's the best thing I will get in these circumstances. The others share what they have between them.

We try to find a good place to sleep, Peeta calls me over to an upturned log, and I lie down next to him looking up at the sky the beams of light occasionally pointing up into the darkness. Peeta puts his arm around me and I rest my face on his chest. It reminds me of when we spent the night in the cave, when I began to fall for him. I feel him breathing and hear his heart beating away, I close my eyes and fall asleep.

The next morning we all wake up at the same time, for the same reason, the ground that was our beds last night is trembling. I sit up and look around then at the faces looking back at me. "Is this an earthquake" Peeta says struggling to get his backpack on. "Certainly feels like one" Gale replies. We begin to get to our feet still scouring the land for what could be causing the ground to shake, then we all look upwards. Above our heads just a couple of hundred feet in the sky is a hovercraft but I have never seen one like this before.

We all duck down to the ground partially to avoid anyone seeing us, but mostly as we get the feeling it was low enough to touch our heads. It's huge, 5 times the size of any other hovercraft I have seen before and it has jets that create a blue haze around its structure.

"That's a people carrier, I have seen photographs of them being made, I didn't' realise they were here" Fergus shouts under the screaming noise of the jets. "They can carry two hundred people; they were designed to move heavy machinery or so I thought" he adds.

"That must be how they are getting the people from Panem here" I say. The craft moves slowly above us and heads towards Joanus' building. We watch it as it circles the tower before gradually lowering on to the top. "We have got to stop this; the way they are going there will be no one left in Panem to put up much of a fight" Gale says. I glance across the field that lies between us and the start of the city. There is hardly any cover apart from a few trees' spotted about. It seems the city has been built inside a wall with a field running all the way around.

"We are going to have to split up again" I say to Peeta. "We will be spotted too quickly if we approach the city altogether" I add. "I guess your right but we will lose each other unless we can find a meeting place" he replies. I crouch and look at my holo again. There seems to be a communication tower to the west of the building which would be something everyone could see. I turn to the group "We are going to have to go in three's again, but this time we have to distance ourselves from one another. There is a comms tower positioned at the edge of the force field" I point to the tower; it is a mesh like structure with a red flashing light at the top. "That's taking us out too far, it's going to add a few more hours to the journey" Gale says apprehensively. I was trying to think of who would be best suited with who but Gale's response has made my mind up. "As there is an odd number I will go with Peeta, Gale team with Fergus and Frostine, Tenney, Gauis, Johanna your team 3. Helsa, Stipar and Tressa team 4, is everyone ok with that?" I say to the group hoping there are no objections. I can see Gale is clearly not happy with my request but he doesn't say anything. "I have your trackers on my holo, if I see any of you straying or staying in one place for two long we will come and find you" I say. We all say our goodbyes and wish each other good luck. The next time we see each other we will be breaking into Joanus tower, that's if he doesn't find us first.

Peeta and I begin the walk to the city watching across the field to the other groups, Gales team reaches the edge first followed by Stipar's, we are third. We are now on our own, just me and Peeta for the first time since this all began. The streets are paved in a white stone; it almost looks like marble. The paths seem to be made of some kind of harden clay that gives it a sandy appearance, probably to stop people walking straight in front of a passing vehicle.

The city is busy, I am feeling a little more relaxed as it would have been terrible if there was hardly anyone around, too much time for people to look at you. Unlike the town we came through to get here, this very much looks like the Capitol. Every building looks different to the next as though its owners are competing with their neighbours and all of them look expensive. There are shiny vehicles parked outside of some along with Precia's security trucks that randomly patrol the streets. Orivan was right though, although this place is built around the rich and powerful it seems that poorer folk are allowed to mingle in. This makes our job that much easier because despite us looking like we have been eating none stop for a week with our oversized clothes we fit in, no one bats an eyelid when they walk past us, no one cares.

As we walk past a quieter area I quickly take a look at my holo. Everyone seems to be doing well, I can see all the teams moving in at the same pace, with any luck we will meet up together at the same time. "Do you think we have time for a bite to eat" Peeta says jokingly. I look at him wanting to take him up on his offer but I know that would be a silly thing to do. No we have to keep on track, I don't want Gale having an opportunity to moan at us after I paired him with the others.

As coincidentally as before and in an even worse place my holo beeps in my ear. I am flustered trying to find somewhere to go to listen. Peeta finds a truck that looks to have been parked for a while with its back door open. We quickly look round it making sure there is no one in it, or anyone that's on their way back to move it. "You go in I take watch" Peeta says.

I press the earpiece to my ear so I can hear better over the noise of the bustling city "This is Katniss— I can speak now" I say. "This is President Paylor, I need to update you on the situation. Around 7am this morning we received news that more people had been taken, this time from district 5. We scrambled hovercrafts but we were too late to intercept. We simply don't have enough resource to carry out 24/7 monitoring of all of Panem" she says. "Yes, we saw a large hovercraft on our way in this morning, they must be on that. We are almost at Joanus' building. I will have to switch off comms soon to make sure no one picks our signal up" I reply.

"Very good Katniss, understand and good luck to you all, see you on your return" she adds. The line goes dead.

I climb out of the back of the truck and Peeta helps me down just as the owners of the truck return. We quickly slip into a doorway out of their view, we certainly don't want to be accused of trying to steal it. As the two men walk towards us they seem to be talking about something they had seen. "What did you think about it last night" one of the men says. "Brilliant, it's getting better every day, it's just a shame it's only a highlights show. Would love to see the whole thing" the other replies. One walks round the back and closes the doors and then they both climb in and drive away.

"Must be some kind of show that's on, shame we have nothing like that in Panem, just an announcement every now and again" Peeta says as we come out of cover and continue our way to the tower. After 20 minutes we turn onto a road with the comms structure in front of us, this area doesn't seem as busy as the others, it also doesn't look as visually pleasing, perhaps this is a lower end of the city. I notice that more and more of the poorer dressed people are here some of them remind me of the districts years ago where having a bath was the highlight of your week.

As we approach the comms tower I can see Gales and Johanna's teams have already arrived. I begin walking at a faster pace anxious to look at my holo to find out where the others are. "Took the scenic route eh?" Gale says proudly. "It wasn't a race Gale; besides I have had a message from Paylor that some of District 5 was taken this morning. That hovercraft we saw must have been the transportation" I reply. Gale looks down as though I had just told him off. I look at the holo and Stipar's team are just around the corner. I breathe a sigh of relief as I see his face in a crowd of people walking towards us. "Sorry Katniss" he says bringing out a bag of something "I couldn't resist my belly asking for food" he adds. "You could have been spotted, don't ever do that again" I say angrily. "Understood Commander, do you want one?" he replies smiling. I put my hand into the bag and pull out something I had almost forgotten about, chocolate. I place it in my mouth and feel a grin forming on my face. With all we have eaten over the last few days this was like a 5 course meal all in one. After a few minutes where the group all had their own heavenly moments with the chocolate, we turn and look down the road to where Joanus' building is.

It still seems a way off, maybe 3 kilometres away and then I spot a sign just a few feet in front of us

_Warning Restricted Access_

_Electro Force Field Active_

_No unauthorised entrance._

_Property of J Snow_

_Anyone trespassing will be arrested and imprisoned at the desecration of the owner_

"This is where the people are being held, it must be" I say to the group. I look down at the map on my holo, it seems to have updated itself now we are closer to Joanus' tower. The force field goes all the way around it. If we are going to get in, we have to go through it either way.

Gale walks towards me "Katniss our mission is to find Joanus, and to destroy any chemicals or munitions we find. Paylor didn't say anything about rescuing anyone" he says.

"Gale I am in command, you advised to bomb the Nut, you advised to bomb the mansion and what happened in both. I am not going to leave anyone behind, if we can save them that's exactly what we are going to do" I scream back at him. "You are risking everyone's lives here, for what? If we die getting them out what then? Joanus will know what Panem is doing, that 13's best squad have been killed and they have enough people on their side to launch a political war". He replies. "I would rather die saving someone than calling out a strike and sitting behind a desk" I emotionally say. Gale seems hurt by my remark but I don't want his military stance to forget all our people that have been taken, sons, daughters, mothers and fathers. They deserve another chance.

I turn to the group "Everyone listen up. Joanus is up in that tower somewhere, that's our objective. There is a force field running from here right round the building. I believe that our people from the districts are in this area. We can either get closer to the tower and find Joanus or go through here and try and save our people first". Johanna immediately shouts "Why are we even discussing it, we go in here" she says in a forced laugh. I was expecting Johanna's response but almost immediately afterwards Stipar, Frostine and Tenney all say "I'm in". Before long the rest of the squad have all agreed, we are going to get our people out. I look at Peeta, he hasn't said anything "You know I am with you Katniss, you don't even have to ask, remember I am here to save you this time". He smiles and kisses my forehead. I put my arms around him and hug him.

Once again the darkness is catching up with, we notice a line of trees at the bottom of the road, to its left it looks like there is a security post complete with floodlights monitoring the area. Our next problem is how to get past them, open the force field and walk 11 people through it without being noticed, virtually impossible.

"You could use your smoke arrows again, that worked before" Peeta says. "They would sound an alarm; place will be overrun with guards in no time" Gale replies.

"He's right, see there next to the one on the right, that's an alarm activation button, I would imagine it would go straight to the tower as well" Fergus says. "I could take them both out within 2 seconds" Helsa says pulling out her rifle from underneath her clothes. "That could work, we could get up there and make it look like they are still ok" Gale says scratching his head. I think that's going to be the only option we have, hopefully no one will notice and it will give us time to get in. I agree and Helsa sets herself up, the rest of us run off to hide in a bush to the side of the road.

In what seemed like a blink of an eye we hear two muffled shots almost together, I watch the tower and both men slide down behind the base of the lookouts. "Targets eliminated" Helsa says swinging her rifle on to her back. I don't really want to congratulate her but I walk over and put my hand on her arm giving it the lightest of pats.

We hurry down towards the lookout, Tenney and Gauis race up the stairs to position the men in such a way that is looks as though they are ok to anyone looking down the road.

I watch as I see them both struggling to pick the men up and rest them so they don't fall over, it begins to look like a comedy act as Gauis manages to get his right and Tenney's falls over and vice versa. Eventually they both succeed, and whilst one of them looks slightly intoxicated, anyone who bothered to look down the road wouldn't notice a thing.

Past the lookout we reach the tree's, we can hear a loud buzzing sound the other side, there doesn't seem to be any obvious way through so we force our way through the branches. It's not the most pleasant of experiences, the trees twigs and branches scratching across your face and hands but with a few pushes we all get through to the other side.

Around 100 yards in front of us a large blue force field is humming giving off a slight heat as we get closer, it seems to go up into the clouds above us. Whoever is in there, Joanus doesn't want them to get out or anyone to get in.

"I guess I actually get to use this infernal box on my back now" Peeta says lifting it off. Gale stands next to him helping him to lower it to the ground. "We only have 2 charges, Haymitch told me while we were on our way here, one to get in, one to get out again" I say. "That's all we need isn't It" Gale replies.

We all gather round just outside the glowing blue light of the force field. "We can't take any explosives through the force field, they have to left here" I shout to the group. "What happens if we take them through" Stipar replies lifting up his large backpack full of them. "I would imagine it wouldn't be good and almost certain to be loud" Peeta says.

We begin to store our weapons and ammunition inside a dense bush nearby, no one will see it unless they are actually looking for it. After a few minutes mostly spent helping Stipar get rid of his numerous devices and explosives we are ready. "Guess we don't need these clothes anymore; it's not like they won't notice us in there is it!" Tressa says. We all remove the clothes and hide them in bush a little further down. We now look like the soldiers we are supposed to be, if anyone was to see us now we would most probably be shot on sight, which might happen anyway as soon as we go through the force field.


	11. Chapter 11

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 12

**Chaper 11**

"Suppose I get to try this thing out" Peeta says taking the box off his back and pulling out the wire. I walk up to him as he looks at the glowing wall in front of him. I am not sure what words could possibly reassure someone who is about to put a spike in an electrified wall, so I just put my hand on his shoulder. The others all take a few steps back, they haven't seen what Beetee has created, something that may save our lives.

Peeta steps up to the force field and extends the wire; he is just about to press it on to the surface when we see a flashlight waving around behind the trees. "Hey, what are you people doing there, that is a restricted area". We don't know if they have seen the men in the tower but either way they are coming towards us and fast.

I look back and Peeta is already pushing the sharp point of the wire into the force field, it begins to crackle and bang like flies in a bug zapper then a hole begins to appear. After just a few moments we now have a way through. "Quick go, I'll follow with Peeta" I shout to the squad. There is only enough room for one person to go through at a time, everyone but me Peeta and Stipar rush through. I turn to Peeta and notice Stipar seems reluctant to go through. I am just about to shout to him when the doorway begins to collapse, Stipar bends down and begins to run towards us.

I feel myself being dragged as Peeta pulls me through the gap which is only a few feet high, then as Stipar reaches the door I watch as an explosion engulfs him. We are all blown backwards by the shockwave and come crashing down several feet away. "What was that" Frostine says scrambling to her feet. "Is everyone ok" I say rubbing my face. The explosion seemed to happen on the other side of the force field which prevented us all from being seriously injured or killed.

Gale walks over to the smouldering grass at the base of the now regenerated wall. "He didn't make it; he must have tried to bring something through" he says. Tressa begins to cry "I knew he was going to try it, that's how stubborn he is" she says.

In all the confusion I hadn't noticed Peeta crouching down with his face in his hands, he didn't know Stipar enough to be so stricken by this. "Hey, you ok" I say. He looks up at me, his face black from the blast, but it's not pain I see in his eyes its fear. I bend down to him "It's gone; the explosion ripped it from my hands" he says. "What's gone, it will be ok" I reply. Then I remember what he was holding, Beetee's box.

"Oh no, no" I say unable to formulate any other words than that. We are now inside Joanus force field and we have no means to get out. I walk over to the rest of the group some still wiping off the remains of dirt and soot from their faces.

"I have some bad news, not only have we lost a team member in Stipar, not only do we only have basic weapons but we can no longer get out of here. The explosion destroyed the equipment that got us in" I say

"This doesn't change anything; we carry on with our mission which is to get to Joanus" Gale says. "And find our people" Johanna adds.

"No, it changes nothing, only we now have to find what is powering this wall before we can escape. I am sure Joanus will let us know when we find him" I say trying not to show my worry.

If that wasn't bad enough whoever was coming towards us before we broke through the wall must be now well on their way to contacting Joanus. If they didn't know we were on the island before, they do now. Before we go on I ask everyone to make sure they have at least one weapon. The squad begin exchanging, a dagger for a sword, a spear for a throwing knife it seems no one had what they wanted when we were equipped before we boarded for the journey over here.

We climb up a rocky mound which seems to have been assembled as a makeshift staircase, once we reach the top our breath is taken away. We can see Joanus' tower in the distance, but everything between it is beautiful. Lush green grass, flowers, hills and streams, around the centre is a large wooden building which must be where the people from Panem are being held or at least where they have been. The darkness of the sky is contrasted by a brilliantly white moon which causes the streams to light up the fields around it. If Panem's people had been taken here they wouldn't have been in a bad place it would seem, it actually looks like a dream. Perhaps it's manmade, maybe this is why it's beneath a force field to keep it from others in the city. As strange as it sounds when this is all over I would love to live here, protected from the outside.

"We head towards the building, shouldn't take us long, just a few hills in the way" Gale calls out to the group. I wasn't expecting him to say that, I had the impression he wanted to get to the tower and get out as soon as possible. The scenery might have calmed him down a little, or maybe he thinks if we can rescue some of Panem's people, they will be able to help us breach the tower being as though we are only 10 strong now.

As we walk down the rocky slope in front of us my thoughts turn back to Stipar. Did he really try and bring through some explosives? That was his role after all, or was it Beetee's invention that went wrong. Perhaps Peeta's box got caught in the closing wall. We may never find out but it's clear that he would have been found by whoever saw us. I only hope it was a resident of the city rather than Joanus' security. I hated Peacekeepers but these people seem even worse, shifty and uncompromising in their dark suits. It seems strange that in a place that is so beautiful people like that are roaming the streets. Then I get an even worse thought, what if he survived the blast. What if he is really injured and we have left him there to die, what if he has been captured like Peeta, Johanna and Annie.

I click my earpiece to try and contact 13. "District 13 this is Katniss do you copy?" I say as quietly as possible. A faint humming sound comes back through. "13 are you reading this?" Nothing, it seems the force field around Joanus' paradise tower is stopping the communicator. We are now on our own, cut off from everyone who can help us, cut off from my children.

We reach a small stream that is weaving its way around the base of the hills; this would be an ideal opportunity to test the water to see if we can bottle it to drink. Frostine has purifiers in her pack so we should be ok. Tressa and Fergus bend down at the edge and begin to fill their water bottles. "We need to check that before you drink it" Frostine hastily explains. Tressa takes a bottle over to Frostine who takes a small container from her backpack and pours in some of the water.

After a few seconds the clear water has turned into a dark red. "It's poisonous, the water is poison don't drink it!" Frostine shouts to the group. I am confused, why would there be poisonous water running through the fields, has something happened to the supply that's infected it? "How much water do we all have" Gale says shaking his almost empty bottle. Between the ten of us we have almost 2 bottles full, not enough to survive for more than a couple of days especially as we have no food either. "There must be some drinking water in the building that we saw, but I have noticed something" Peeta says looking around. "What, have you seen something" I reply. "It's more what I haven't, look around, have your seen any wildlife? When we were at the top of the hill did you see any?" He's right, although it hasn't been on the top of my lists for things to look out for I haven't seen or heard anything remotely wild.

"Perhaps the water has killed them, maybe it's been like it for a while and who ever looks after this place has got rid of them" Helsa says. "Maybe" I reply, although I think there is something a lot stranger going on.

The sun is beginning to rise behind the tower, it's some way off yet maybe a couple of days, but at least now we are getting a better look at our surroundings. The trees are full with green leaves and there are hundreds of different kinds of flowers and plants. The one thing that sticks out to me is the grass, it looks too uniform. The fields around 12 were so overgrown you could hide in them for hours and no one would find you. Here it looks as though someone has covered the entire area and cut it all to a similar length.

I am beginning to feel nauseous, a small piece of chocolate over 24 hours ago is beginning to take its toll on me. "We need to find food quickly; it's going to be too difficult to walk all that way with no energy" I say to Gale. He looks at me as though I had asked the obvious. "We are all hungry Katniss, what do you want me to do? Take off my boot and make a roast?" Gale has never been good at sarcasm most would make the recipient laugh; this has made me angry. "Funny Gale, no what I meant was we all need to keep a look out for anything remotely edible, that's all" I reply staring at the ground. He turns away like a scorned teenager and joins Johanna and Tenney. I do not have the patience or stamina to argue with him.

As we walk a little further the sun is now beating down on us. It is now getting difficult to walk, my lips are beginning to crack which reminds me of the Quarter Quell, but there will be no favours from Haymitch this time. We come across a large tree; the size of it makes me think it's been here for years. Its branches stretch out like a roof and with its deep foliage I suggest to the group we take a break here to catch our breath. I take my holo out in the hope that it will show something in the form of water or food storage.

It beeps a couple of times but nothing appears on the screen. "Fergus, can you take a look at the holo, it doesn't seem to be working" I say. Fergus slowly slides himself along the floor and gets to his feet, it almost looks like he is drunk as he sway's one way to the other coming towards me.

He takes the holo from me and begins pressing various buttons on the screen. I have no idea what he is doing and honestly as long as he gets it working I don't care. Peeta stands up and begins looking at the trunk of the tree. "Maybe you need to get higher with it, perhaps there are too many things blocking its transmitter" he says.

"I'd imagine the main thing stopping it from working would be that force field" I reply trying to sound as clever as possible. Fergus leans towards me "Bingo" he says proudly. "You got it working, thank you Fergus" I say smiling. I put it on the grass between my legs, the shade of the tree acts well to allow the blue image to be displayed.

"Everyone gather round; Fergus has got the holo working we need to see if we can see anywhere for water" I say. It must have been the best thing the squad had heard all day as they all quickly jump to their feet and crowd round the device. I press the screen and it projects the area in front of us. The only problem is, unlike when we used it in the Capitol to detect the game maker pods, there are areas that are just blank, as though there is nothing there. "What's that" Peeta says pointing at one of the blank spots. "Must be blocked from our radar" Gale says looking down above us all. "Your joking, what another 2 kilometres to the building in the middle in this heat" Johanna says letting herself fall on to her back.

"That looks to be some kind of water tower to the west" Fergus says pointing to a round object. "Looks as good as anything I can see; I say we head that way" Gale says. "But we don't know what the blank areas are and there are two of them right next to it" I reply. "Guess we find out when we get there" Peeta says.

"Ok, looks to be about 2 hours away. It will take us off our path to the building, but we might not make it anyway if we don't find water" I say to the group. We pick up our weapons and back packs and begin to walk once more. The sun is now almost at its highest point and it feels like my skin is sizzling with the heat. The sweat I had when we entered has now all dried up and my tongue feels like sand paper.

After a while we reach the foot of more rocks, this time a lot steeper and a great deal higher. It doesn't look too difficult, it's no mountain but it will be tough under the circumstances.

"So we spent half a night climbing down rocks and now we are going to go back up them again" Johanna shouts. It's almost funny if it wasn't so true. We begin climbing, each rock seems to be around 4 or 5 feet high and the surfaces are good for getting a grip to pull ourselves up. Peeta with his electric legs is taking it in his stride jumping up the incline as though he was on a trampoline. I look below us and see Tenney and Gauis, they don't look impressed at all seeing Peeta skipping his way up. They have bigger backpacks than the rest of us although up until this point I never thought to ask them what was in them.

I hold back and wait for them to get to my level. "If we emptied all our explosive weapons before we broke in here, what is in your backpacks?" I say. The both look at each other and then back to me. "Katniss, we aren't supposed to tell you it's classified. We had hoped you wouldn't need to ask" they cautiously reply. I am not only curious but now I am angered that I have been pushed into leading a group of people I hardly know and I am having things kept from me.

"Tenney, Gauis, we have no communication outside of here, I am your commander, tell me what's in the bags" I demand. "Chemicals Ma'am" Tenney responds. "If something happens to us we are supposed to release them" Gauis adds.

"What do you mean release them and why are you responsible for carrying them" I say almost screaming at them. "Katniss we both have nothing to lose, everyone else here has someone or something back in 13. We were chosen by Paylor as we were the least likely to back out of it" Gauis replies. "If we are captured, if it looks like it's the end for us we release the chemicals. It will kill anything within a 50-mile radius" he adds.

"Don't worry they won't go off unless we activate them, there's no danger to anyone whilst they are in the backpacks" Tenney says.

"So basically if we reach Joanus' tower and something happens you just let them off killing us and Joanus" I say clenching my fists at my side. They both look back at me unable to reply. "We will talk about this once we reach the top; this is something the whole group needs to know about" I add pushing them both in front of me.

We are almost at the top of the rocks when we suddenly hear a screeching noise. We all look up and around us but there is nothing else near us. Then as we are all looking at one another I hear something that almost makes me fall to ground. Coming from a speaker somewhere in the rocks next to us I hear Joanus' voice.

"Good Afternoon, welcome to day 3. A quick recap of numbers for today's challenges, there were 19 left at sunrise this morning but I have some very exciting news for you all.

During the night we have 10 more participants who have joined us. Please welcome former intelligence to the Capitol and now traitor Fergus Mawenny, former Hunger Games victor's, Peeta Mellark and former girl on fire, Mockingjay, murderer of Alma Coin and my father Coriolanus Snow; Katniss Everdeen. They are joined by 7 other stupid but brave souls". He begins to laugh. "Such a shame that their leader Miss Everdeen, who had my father killed to stop The Hunger Games has walked them straight into another".

"Before we get on with today's events, just a quick mention to our newcomers; how very silly to sneak into my city. How silly it was to murder two of my guards and to top it off how silly was it to use a communications holo inside a restricted area right next to my tower. My father was right Katniss; you are just a young girl oblivious to the world around you. You have no idea what you have done or what you are doing"

"Well you and your friends have a very good stay, I am sure I will be seeing you soon. Oh, one more thing, in here the odds are most certainly not in your favour".

I slump to my knees; the whole world seems to be spinning I try to cry but all my tears have dried up. I make out Peeta running towards me, my vision beginning to blur. He puts his hands on my shoulders desperately trying to get me to my feet, like when I had been stung by trackerjacker's in the games. "Katniss, Katniss" he shouts. "It's an arena, we are in an arena" I say just before I feint.


	12. Chapter 12

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 18

**Chaper 12**

I wake up from the nightmare with Peeta and Gale sitting on the ground both looking down at the grass next to me, then I realise I should have stayed asleep as this nightmare is happening whilst I am awake.

I look around and notice Frostine, Helsa and Fergus all sobbing. I remember the feeling when I was first picked as tribute for 12, your mind goes blank, everything around you disappears the only thing you can think of is how you are going to die. No one else matters only this time we don't get to say goodbye to our loved ones, we can't wave to our fellow districts before boarding a train. No, today we are in the Games without even knowing it.

"Well this is just great, you win one games then get picked to go in another, just because you won. Now there's another one we have just happened to stroll into" Johanna says waving her axe around. I am tempted to tell her to calm down, that reaction will not be helping the others who have not seen the inside of an arena before. But I know what she is going through, perhaps it's better to let it all go now rather than when we have to fight to stay alive.

"Do you think it's like before, only one victor" Peeta says pulling up some grass. I gaze at his hands as he grasps it tightly before letting it drop to the ground. I have seen this before and remember Finnick with his rope, he said it was to let him focus, for his brain to forget everything that hurts.

"I don't know, but one thing's for certain if we can get to the tower we can stop it all" I reply. Gale overhears and slaps his hands on his legs. "That's it, we get to the tower break in and kill Joanus, it will end all of this" he says confidently.

"Gale, it's not as simple as that, you may at some point have a decision to make whether to kill someone in this group, Katniss, me, Johanna? Could you do that with no thought" Peeta says. Gale ponders the question for a moment, he looks up from the ground and stares out over the hills. "I guess I have to; you both have done it before you tell me" he replies.

"No Gale, in the games before, everyone in the arena were strangers I only had Peeta, even when we had allies you couldn't let your guard down for one second. We know everyone in this group; it would be like killing one of your friends" I say.

"We stick together, like you said we are all in the same team, we all help each other. If we stay together no one will be able to pick us off" he says. He is right; we must carry on but make sure no one gets left behind. I take several deep breaths and tell the group the plan, it seems to cheer one or two of them up but I can see some are still visibly shaking.

We all begin moving once more towards the area we found on the holo. It may have been the reason Joanus found us but we now have the upper hand on anyone else in here, we can find things quicker. My worry now is what the blank area is; could it be like the pods in the Capitol ready to fire on us with bullets or flames, or what I am hoping places where we shouldn't be that might help us find food, water or even to escape.

We reach a small dip between two hills and we can now see the round shape in front of us. We still have no idea if it's a water tower but we are close enough to it now to avoid getting lost.

"Maybe 30 more minutes and we will be there" Gauis says.

I begin to slowly edge my way down the slope and notice my footing beginning to give way. I shake my head and take a few more steps. This time I stumble and put my hands out behind me to stop my fall. "You ok Katniss, those boots not great for rock climbing hey?" Tenney says. I grin, but just as I am about to lift myself back up I feel the ground move. "Did you feel that" Gale shouts over. "Yeah must be something going underneath, I bet they have tunnels all over the place" Peeta replies. I manage to get to my feet and brush my hands, then all of a sudden a loud thunderous roar echoes around the hills. We all freeze in our spots; I look up expecting another hovercraft to be blasting above us then the ground begins to move once more. "This doesn't look good" Peeta shouts trying to stay on his feet.

Immediately after the words had left Peeta's lips some of the rocks around my feet begin to roll down the hill. I feel myself rising upwards as though I was on an escalator, I turn round to look at Peeta. A crack has formed between us and I stand motionless, watching it snake its way around the ground getting larger. "Earthquake, grab on to something" Fergus shouts. I slam myself to the ground grabbing onto anything I can find, roots, grass, stones. Everyone is now lying face down on the floor when the loudest noise I have ever heard makes me cover my ears. Huge mounds of rock banging into each other, I am helpless and watch Tenney, Frostine and Helsa disappear below us. Johanna gets up and begins to run towards me, I put my hand out to give her something to grab on to and then the ground beneath her feet drops away. At the last second she manages to find enough energy to throw herself through the air, almost as if the time had been slowed down I watch the desperation on her face.

Her hand grabs mine and she falls on top of me; I feel her slipping down my back and her hands frantically grasping at my legs. I turn and put my hand back towards her and she manages to cling on. The ground is bouncing up and down violently; Gale who was just a few feet away from me is now drifting further and further away as though he was an iceberg in the ocean. My eyes are rapidly scanning for Peeta; I can't see him "Peeta!" I scream at the top of my voice, but it's drowned out by the smashing of rocks. I feel a pull on my arm and turn my head Johanna begins to wave at me and points.

Its Peeta, the ground he was on has moved up above us and he is peering down from the edge he is clung onto. Despite the horrific situation we are in, I am relieved that Peeta is ok. Then his section drops from the sky and falls into darkness.

I can't breathe; it feels like someone has my neck and is closing their grasp to cut off the last remaining air from my lungs only no one is. I can't be bothered anymore, what's the point, we are all going to die here in this death trap and the rest of Panem will fall to Joanus. My children will have the life I had in fear that the Games may one day come for them.

Even if 13 retaliates, even if they try to defend the soil, they can't launch attacks on their own people. If Joanus gets his troops into Panem we would have no way of finding them on such a large scale. He would then be able to eat up every last bit of hope from the inside out.

The dust settles and the ground becomes still once more. Johanna is still clinging on to me, almost breaking the skin on my back with her nails.

My ears are still ringing from the sound of rocks banging against themselves, but in the distance a voice. "Everyone ok?" it's Gale, I look over towards the voice and he is stood on a section of earth no bigger than a table with drops all around him. Johanna shouts back "We are ok, but we can't see Peeta and Tenney, Helsa and Frostine went down over there" she says. "Yeah we good" Fergus shouts with Gauss staggering next to him. "Nothing a drop of water won't fix anyway" he adds. "Peeta" I whisper to myself "Why, why did we do this?" "Come on lets' see, he might be ok Katniss, he might be just lower down" Johanna says pulling my arm to get me up to my feet. We edge our way over to the side of the rock we are on and look over the side. I am so scared, shaking, I am not sure I want to know. What if he is at the bottom of a deep cavern lifeless.

"See, I told you, he's a fighter just like you Katniss" Johanna says. I open my eyes and there some 50 feet below us Peeta is staring back up at us. He looks rather comfortable considering he is on a ledge barely bigger than himself. "Ouch" he shouts up to us almost laughing. "I was going to say jump to me but I guess that wouldn't have been a good idea" he adds. Once again, at the thought of losing Peeta a tear rolls down my cheek. That boy, he is either really lucky or really unlucky and I can never work out which it is.

"Don't suppose you have any rope up there do you" Peeta shouts. I turn round to look, Stipar, he was carrying all the wire we had when we got separated by the force field.

Just then we hear a thud next to us, Gale has somehow managed to traverse across to us and now there is 3 of us all huddled together. "Can't he jump up; you know with his legs" Fergus says sitting down on the ground across from us.

"Peeta, use your legs, try and get a grip somewhere and pull yourself out, your strong, you can do it" I say, partly to get him to at least try but mostly to reassure myself. He looks back at us with a sense of amazement of what I had asked him to do, Jump up 50 feet from a ledge just a foot wide. Thinking it back to myself it is actually a crazy idea, but we don't have any other options and who knows if it will start again. We need to get away from this area.

Peeta stands looking up at the wall of earth and begins stepping to the left and then the right mapping out things he can grab onto, roots, rocks, pipes, as long as they are secure enough it doesn't matter. Then as if in a split second he leaps up. I want to close my eyes, but before I can even blink he has jumped onto a thick root and is frantically swinging to get a foothold onto a rock. The three of us look on helplessly as he manages to get his left foot onto a rock just before the root begins to come away from the wall of mud. He leans his whole body onto his standing foot and pushes up. Unbelievably in just 2 leaps he has his hands on the edge near our feet. Gale pushes between us and puts out his hands to help him up, as if he wanted to save him. Perhaps he knows that we need Peeta if we are ever going to get out of this place.

"What about the others, they must be in the same situation I was" Peeta says scanning the surroundings.

"If they are we have no way of getting to them. That gap is more than a hundred feet; we can't get across that with what we have" Gale says. "We can't just leave them to die, I won't" I reply. Then I remember my holo, I can see them on it maybe there would be a way of contacting them. If not to speak to them maybe just to let them know we know where they are.

Joanus located us from my last transmission attempt as we entered the arena, it won't make a difference now if I use it. I switch it on and check the map scanner. Our dots are shown instantly, then after a couple of seconds I can see the others and even better they are all moving together. "They made it, they are alive" I say happily. "That's great Katniss, perhaps if we go round we can meet back up with them" Peeta says. "We carry on to the water tower, we need that first and then we can see where they are from then" Gale replies stubbornly. I agree with him though, it will be no use if we haven't gotten the water, after all it's why we were here when this happened anyway.

It doesn't take us long to reach the edge of the tree's, we can see below us a small building and to our delight a water tower. Now our problem is getting to it, if Joanus is anything like how barbaric his father was, no doubt it will not be a case of simply walking up to it and pouring into our bottles. There could be traps or even worse "contestants" if that's what we are to be called now.

I notice Gauis walking up behind me and he stands there silently as if he was waiting for me to announce something. "I'll go; you all watch the area and let me know if anything looks wrong" he says. "No, we stick together, I don't want any more of us to be split up, we are safer in numbers" I reply.

"Thing is Katniss if we all go in, what if it's a trap, we could all be killed instantly" Gale adds. "I will go with Gale and Gauis, three of us should be enough for anything, it would be good if someone could watch over us". Peeta says strongly. Gale seems to be slightly reluctant to agree, he has never seen inside an arena. The Capitol wouldn't show anything that wasn't exciting so apart from girls and boys killing each other. He doesn't know what it's like to be so scared of approaching something or someone it makes you physically sick. He goes along with it though, maybe it's the stubbornness showing itself again, maybe he is too proud to say he's scared.

I sit down with Johanna, Tressa and Fergus and we watch as they begin walking down the hill together. "He still loves you" Johanna whispers to me. "I know, that's why he shouldn't be here, it could jeopardise everything. I don't want him trying to get one over Peeta and getting us all killed, even worse getting Peeta killed" I whisper back. She looks at me dead in the eyes before lowering her head "You don't have feelings for him at all?" she says. "Not anymore, I didn't know what love meant until Peeta was electrocuted in the games. It was then I knew I couldn't be without him" I say. "Nothing to do with the bombing outside Snow's mansion then?" She adds. "No, I know Peeta would do anything for me, and I would him. When Snow told me it was 13 who dropped those bombs I knew Gale would be involved in it somewhere. But deep down I wanted to think he wouldn't have let it happen. If he knew we had medics on the ground. I never wanted to see him again after that day, but now we're here and although I am glad we can still be friends I knew it was only Peeta I wanted well before then" I reply.

"They're getting close" Tressa says; probably trying to stop us from gossiping. My eyes are flicking back and forth trying to cover all the area around them, then I notice them all stand still at the same time. Gale walks forward on his own, I try and adjust my eyes to try and see what he is walking towards. Then I notice a man kneeling down against the base of the tower. "Gale!" I shout down to them. It's too late.

The man gets up and runs towards Gale he has a spear type weapon in his hands. Gale turns and attempts to run but the man leaps at him and swings the spear into Gale. We all get up and begin running down the hill. Although the water tower is just a couple of hundred feet away It feels like miles as I struggle to keep my footing. As I get to the bottom, just a hundred feet from me I watch as they both fight on the floor rolling one way and another. The man pins Gale down on the floor and raises the spear. The point is lined up towards Gales head, he brings back his arms above his head and starts to push down. I begin to stumble on the uneven ground beneath me, just as I am about to hit the ground Peeta comes from the side and smashes a rock to the side of the man's head.

The man falls to the side with blood gushing from the side of his face. Gale pushes him off and sits up. The man lies motionless next to him. I get back to my feet and continue to run over. As I get closer I can see a big gash in Gales arm. "What did you think you were doing" I scream over to Gale. "You don't get to talk to people, they are not here for a chat, they have been forced to murder in here, don't you get it?" I add. I kneel down next to him "It's Ok Katniss, I'm ok, just a flesh wound, I just thought—" he says. "That's it, you don't have time to think in here right?" I shout back.

"Don't worry it won't happen again, besides Peeta saved me". Gale gets gingerly to his feet and slowly walks over to Peeta. He puts his hand out "Thank you Peeta, you, you saved my life" he says. Peeta puts his hand out and they shake firmly "No problem, I owe you for not killing me in the Capitol, heck there was so many times you could have just got rid of me and you didn't" Peeta replies. They both look at each other knowingly. I am not sure what to think, Gale was almost killed and Peeta's saying he could have been by Gale, now they are both shaking hands!

I walk up to Peeta and put my hands on either side of his face and kiss him "Thank you Peeta". I say. He knows that Gale probably still loves me but he is that great a man that he would save anyone even a rival. "We need to get you cleaned up" Tressa says to Gale pulling out a length of cloth. She ties it around his arm. "That should stop the bleeding, it's not a deep cut, could do with stitches but I don't think Joanus will let us have any of that. We will have to keep a look out for anything to change it as soon as we can".

"I just hope we get to Marcus so I can have my moment with him" Johanna says. It may have been what she meant but it certainly managed to make us all refocus. "Hey, if you aren't too busy there's water here we need to collect" Fergus calls over to us all. We quickly rush over to the tap to fill every bottle we have. Then we hear a sound I know all too well, a canon the signal of someone losing their life. I had hoped that Joanus would have overlooked that deathly gesture, but I guess with it being one of the main 'attractions' to the Games he would have wanted to have kept it in for posterity.

We have managed to fill all our 12 bottles and the poor soul now lying dead at the base of the tower had 3 bottles as well so we have enough for all our group, if we ever find the rest of them that is.

"We should have a look inside the building, see if there is any food or other supplies we can take with us" Fergus says walking over to an iron door. "It could be trapped" I shout over.

He is just about to turn the handle on the door when we hear a hissing noise coming from a speaker in the roof of the building and then Joanus speaks. "Well, well, well. Seems you aren't the fighter you are made out to be Katniss. And as for your friends, 3 of them are heading in the complete opposite direction to you and your head of security almost gets killed by the first person he sees. My Games aren't for the enjoyment of the public, my games have a purpose. Oh and his name was Brinyard, he was from district 7. You might see some others from that district on your travels Johanna" he begins laughing. Johanna pulls her axe out from her belt and runs up to the speaker. "Now, now, don't be like that we are all in this for the same reason remember. Panem needs a leader that can truly lead, if Katniss had anything in her she would be where Paylor is now; she was supposedly the one who won the uprising? Anyway before you destroy my speaker he's a little something for your journey".

The door next to Fergus clicks and opens, Fergus takes several steps back expecting the worst. "Don't worry, we don't have sponsors in here, you see, just some small rations. I am enjoying watching you Katniss, I do hope we get the chance to meet, but I fear there will be only two opportunities. Either you are just about to kill me or I am in my rightful place in the Capitol and President of Panem". Johanna's axe crashes down onto the top of the speaker and in a flash it smashes into half and falls to ground in flames.

"Will you do me one thing in all this Katniss" Johanna says. "Let me kill him, I don't want you changing your mind like his Father" she adds. I feel hurt by her comments; she is a harsh woman who hates indecisiveness. I had to do what I did otherwise we would have had two enemies Joanus and eventually Coin once the people of Panem revolted against her new games.

"I will get it done Johanna, we need to put an end of this legacy once and for all" I reply.

We walk into the building and suddenly the room lights up inside. We know there are camera's watching us, but there in front of us is a wooden crate full of food. Game, rice, bread.

"They could have given us something to carry it all in" Peeta says trying to force as much as he can into his pockets. After a short while we have all gotten as much as we can carry and leave the building. "Where do we head now" Gauis says looking over at me. "I guess we head towards the centre, hopefully meet up with the others" I reply.

We walk to the base of the hill and I notice Fergus isn't with us. I turn around and look back at the building. He comes running out, just as he gets a few feet away from the doorway a huge fireball comes streaming out of the door with so much force it flies off its hinges. A cloud of black smoke rises up into the sky. Fergus rushes over to us and we all stand and wait for his explanation. "We don't want anyone else finding what's left do we" he says out of breath. "I wired the lights up together and poured water over them, quick way to cause an electrical fire" he adds. "He's right, we have enough food now for a good few days, we don't know how many enemies we will come across on the way. Hopefully they haven't been as lucky and they will be weak" Peeta says.

I don't reply to either of them, I turn and begin to walk up the slope of the hill I fell down earlier. They are both right but I don't like the idea of a beacon of smoke rising up for the whole of the arena to see.

As we reach the top of the hill I turn back to look at the building. The smoke has risen so far its touching the top of the force field over the arena. "It could work in our favour; perhaps the others will see it and head this way too?" I say to the group. "We need to hurry then, it's starting to get dark and if they are coming to us, everyone else could be as well" Gale says.

We have been walking for around half an hour when we hear a scream in the distance. We all fall to the ground to cover our position and hope no one can see us. It's almost complete darkness now, in the distance we can see what seems to be a flashlight moving rapidly across the fields. It moves one way then the other before coming straight towards us. It's a good way off so no one would be able to reach us from that far away. Then all of a sudden the light drops and points straight to the sky. It seems to flash on and off for a few seconds before staying still. "What was that" Johanna whispers. The cannon sounds again, it seems to echo around several times as though it had fired more than once but we know it was someone being killed. There must have been a chase happening and whoever it was holding the light had made themselves too visible to others. "Could have been one person against another or a group of people together" I say.

"Do you think they would have allies, in here?" Peeta questions me. "I wouldn't know; you know how hard it was for me to agree to have them in the last games. But I am different, I don't make friends easily" I reply.

Peeta smiles "You do; they only have to ask you what your favourite colour is" he replies. I prod him in the chest jokingly "Did you tie your laces today" I smirk back at him.

It's been a while since the cannon sounded and we haven't seen any movement near us so we continue the walk towards the middle. As we reach the valley of two hills we notice a river running between us and the centre area, it has trees around its edge deep enough for someone to hide away.

"This looks like a good place for us to stop for the night" Gale says. Tressa calls over. "I'll do first watch; we take it in turns Katniss?" She says. "Yes I'll go second". We find an area in the middle which has a small clearing and put down our food and gear. "Make sure your weapon is within touching distance and don't let it out of your sight" I say to the group.

Gale sits down at the furthest part of the clearing looking out towards the river. I don't know why but if he is anything like me the first night in an arena is a lot to take in. The rest of the group seem to prefer to sit close together.

Just then a beam of light points in from the middle of the arena to the top of the force field. It's the contestants who have been lost in the day's battles. Another haunting image I wished I would never have to see again.

Two people are shown, Brinyard Masons and Candair Raven, the second one was a girl who looked no more than 13, long golden hair down to her shoulders. I couldn't help but think of Prim but at least I can remember her having never had to participate in this torture. That poor girl was obviously running away from someone; she must have been terrified. I just hope her end was a quick one. The light goes out and the arena is plunged into darkness again.

Johanna walks over to me and Peeta and lies back looking up at the virtual sky. "I hope I get the chance to be like you with Peeta if I ever see Marcus again. I want to have what you have." she says. I put my arm around her, she really is a difficult person to read, one minute she wants to fight the world, the next she is like a loved up school girl. I prefer her like this. "You will, I will make sure of it" I reply. "If Joanus has put him in this arena with us, if he's dead, I have no reason to live again, and to be honest I don't think I can take it any more" she says beginning to cry. I pull her close trying to give her as much reassurance as possible. "He will be ok; I don't think even Joanus would put him in to be killed without there being a dramatic ending. No he's still alive; my worry is if he will recognise you if he sees you" I say. "He doesn't know I'm here" She says sitting up quickly. "He never mentioned my name on the main announcement" she adds.

"Maybe there's a way we could let him know, somehow" Peeta says obviously having heard the entire conversation.

Fergus gets up and walks over to us, he sits down beside me and Johanna. "If we can find a way of accessing the system that displays up there; I could get a message up?" he says. "Could your holo do that do you think?" Johanna says excitedly.

"No it wouldn't be able to do it without it being connected to the system" I reply.

"Yes that's what I meant, I know how the system works and what the connections look like, all we need to do is find one and I can get in and get a message up" he says.

"Where would we find a connection though, this place is huge" Peeta adds. "If it's like what the Capitol had in their arenas there will be access tunnels around where they can ferry in supplies and fix damaged equipment. If we can find one, I can do it" Fergus says.

"My best guess is in the centre where the cornucopia would have been" I say.

"That's it then, at dawn we get across the river, head into the centre and see if there is anyone from the districts captive and look for a tunnel" Johanna says standing to her feet.

I don't need to say anything, I just look at her and nod my head. It could work and if we can get a message to Marcus what's stopping us putting out a message to Helsa, Frostine and Tenney. What if we could tell the other contestants in here we are here and to fight with us, not against us.

We have a plan, whether it will work or not is another matter but for now it's a glimmer of hope that will allow us to get some sleep before once again heading into the unknown.


	13. Chapter 13

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 17

**Chaper 13**

I wake up just as the light is beginning to get brighter, I am not sure if it's the sun or an artificial source but either way its morning. As I sit up I notice I am soaking wet, I put my hand to my face and feel my forehead is dripping with sweat. Peeta is still asleep by the side of me, I give him a nudge to wake him but he is reluctant to get up.

"Peeta!" I shout almost in to his ear. He jumps up with a start and looks at me then quickly around the tree line. "What, what is it?" He says confused. "They have done something with the temperature, can't you feel it, it's getting hot" I say.

I watch him as he does the exact same thing as I did as if he didn't believe what I was suggesting. "Great, just as soon as we find water they want us to drink it quicker" he says. I look around at the rest of our now small group. Johanna is talking to Tressa beneath a tree, Gauis and Fergus seem to be looking in the long grass for something. Then I notice Gale isn't here.

"Anyone seen Gale?" I say to the others. I get a blank look from Johanna as if she doesn't care either way "He wasn't here when I woke, up perhaps Fergus or Gauis knows" Tressa replies. I slowly walk towards them concerned at what they are looking for in the grass, or worst still what they might have found. "I hope it's nothing remotely like snakes" I joke as Gauis turns around. He laughs "No, we noticed a wire running underneath a tree and it surfaces here. Fergus seems to think if we can cut it we could use it to hook up your holo to the arena display". "You haven't seen Gale have you, was he around when you woke?" I reply. "Yeah, he said he needed some space and walked off through those trees around 30 minutes ago. He said he would keep in view of us" Fergus says.

Why would he wonder off on his own, I would have thought that yesterday was enough for him to make sure he stays with us, not to act brave when he doesn't need to.

We gather round in a small circle and ration off some of the bread and meat, most of it is raw but there are one or two pieces that have been cooked. Joanus must want people to start lighting fires to attract attention, but people of Panem aren't that stupid. After a short while Gale reappears from through the trees, he looks down almost dragging his feet along the floor.

"You ok, how's the arm?" Peeta says which breaks the silence of everyone's eyes looking at Gale.

"I'm fine, it's sore I will give you that but I will be ok. Look I have been doing some thinking about all of this. I had no idea how intense it can be in these arenas and I've been pig headed" he says "You got that right" Johanna interrupts him and laughs. Gale continues "I wanted us to carry out our mission without trying to help the others. That still stands but I won't put anyone in danger to do it. If it comes to it I will go into the tower myself, that might give the rest of you time to try and find a way out of this place" he adds.

"Gale, we protect each other, we watch each other's backs, we are in this together. I have watched so many of my friends die in front of me, this isn't the games this is different, this feels like a military training camp. If we reach the tower we will all go in, we leave no one alive behind" I say.

Gale lowers his head and looks upset about the whole thing "Ok, you're the leader Katniss" he says. "We're a team" Johanna says pushing Gale on his chest "I didn't say yes to Paylor's request just for the fun of it, if I die here at least I know I am with my friends" she adds.

"Got it", we all turn around and see Fergus walking towards us with a very long length of cabling. "They aren't going to like this, I've no idea what it was connected to but it's ours now, now let's find a connection. It's about time someone changed the main feature" he says looking up at the sky. It was what we all needed, some positivity. Gale looks visibly happier. Fergus wraps the cable around his shoulders and over his head, he takes a couple of steps in front of us and bends putting his arm out. "Ladies first" he says giggling to himself. I can't help but smile at his gesture "Oh thank you kind Sir" I say as I walk past him.

We begin to walk through the trees that lead us to the river, I notice a small camp fire smouldering on the ground in front of us. Someone had stopped for the night just a few hundred feet away from us, did they see us? I point it out to the group. "Be on your guard, we don't know how many of them there is".

The heat is beginning to become unbearable and we are trying our hardest not to drink our water, we have no idea when we will get the chance to refill again if at all. We exit the forest and approach the river side. The water is moving fast, there is no chance we will be able to cross it without being taken down with its flow. We all stand looking across the water when another canon sounds. "First one of the day, someone was up early" Johanna says.

"Good morning contestants" A voice says from the speakers around the arena. "After the last contestant was sadly lost we are now down to 26 heading into day 5. Unfortunately, that is far too many still in play, so to make it a little more interesting there are 2 new rules with which are in operation with immediate effect. Firstly, every 6 hours the arena walls will retract 100 metres anyone caught within this range will be electrocuted. Secondly as you are aware former victor Katniss Everdeen has joined you, anyone who kills her will have immediate extraction from the arena and will be granted passage out of Precia. That is the end of today's messages".

Everyone immediately turns and looks at me. "What, I am used it now, everyone wanting to kill me, I just hope none of you are thinking about it" I say. "At least now if we are in a group they will go for me first, not any of you" I add. Gale walks over and stands in front of me "Like you said, we protect each other" he says smiling. Tressa who was stood further in front of us comes rushing over "There's a bridge just a bit further down there, looks like it's the only way across" she says. I think to myself if it's the only safe place to cross, then it's going to be the most likely place where we will come across another contestant. "Let's go then" I say to the group. After a short walk we can see the bridge in more detail. It doesn't look at all safe, rope spans across the water with wooden slats lining the walkway, if there was anywhere the Gamemakers would put a trap it's here.

"I'll go first; you know me being one of the lightest" Johanna says. We reach the bottom of the bridge and Johanna looks around at us, I can see fright in her eyes something I have rarely seen. She is just about to put her foot on the first step when she points to the middle of the river. "What's that?" she shouts. We all turn and watch a young man's body floating down under the bridge face down, we notice one of his arms has been cut off from the elbow height, a trail of blood snakes out from behind him.

Even with all I have seen, all the death around me, I still hate to see it. I didn't know this man but I feel his pain, he must have tried to fight off someone putting his hand up to stop them, only for it to be chopped off. What a horrible way to die.

Johanna walks slowly across the bridge, it begins swaying back and forth and she has to cling on to the ropes on either side. As she makes her way into the centre it begins to sag down almost touching the water below. It was clearly only made for one or two people to cross at a time. One by one we cross the river; for some reason although it wasn't planned at all I am the last to cross.

I put my foot on the wood which is damp, it looks as though the bridge has been here for years as it feels weathered under my feet. I reach the middle when Peeta shouts "Katniss! Behind you! Quick!" I turn and see a man running towards me with one of the biggest swords I have ever seen. I turn to run but my foot slips on the wood and I fall face first. The bridge swings violently. The man is now a quarter of the way across and is screaming "Thirteen is the enemy, you're the enemy!"

I get to my feet; there is no way I will make it across before he catches up with me so there is only one alternative, stand my ground. I pull my bow out and place an arrow on the string. I wait, watching the man get closer and closer. I begin to ready the arrow pulling it back until it begins to wobble under the pressure.

Then just before I let it go he stops and stands still just 20 feet away from me. He lowers his sword and just stands there looking at me. "Do it Katniss now!" Gale shouts from the other side. But I hesitate; perhaps he has changed his mind.

I am expecting him to say something else when he drops to his knees; a feint trickle of blood comes from the side of his mouth then he falls forward onto the wooden flooring, an arrow sticking out from the back of his neck. I begin to panic not knowing whether to turn and run or duck down to protect myself then I hear the sound of an arrow in flight.

I feel the thud of it as it hits my stomach; I fall backwards with the impact almost falling off the side myself, then I see her. A tall dark haired girl walking towards me, no fear as if she was made of machinery. She puts her hand behind her back and draws out another arrow. In that split second I know I have to fire or that will be my last breath. I quickly push myself up from the floor and fire my arrow. It whistles through the air and hits her right in the middle of the chest. She looks down as if she was surprised it had hit her, then she raises her hands and puts them around the arrow before falling over the side and into the rushing water.

As I get myself to my feet I feel the bridge swinging once again and I frantically try to grab another arrow from my quiver, I feel someone grabbing my shoulders. I turn and its Gale, he lifts me up and carries me to the other side before placing me on the grass. "Katniss, no" he says looking at me. I pull out the arrow from my stomach and let out a deep breath. "You're ok Katniss, remember your suit" Peeta says looking over at me. I lift my head and gaze down expecting a pool of blood to be circling me. The suit begins to hiss and the hole where the arrow begins to fill itself in. I feel embarrassed initially because I let someone shoot me and then because I had forgotten that Beetee had created an impenetrable chest piece.

"Just a bit winded, it was a bit of a shock that's all" I say sitting up. I notice Johanna feeling her suit whilst looking at mine. "Well it looks as though you're not the only special one, mines the same, not as pretty as yours obviously, but I won't be getting killed by any arrows that's for sure" she says.

The cannon fires twice and already I know that everyone inside this place will kill me if they see me. My mind is beginning to become muddled at the possibility that one of the new squad members could be that person. What if there is a secret plan to kill me after Joanus. I had only just managed to trust the people who we had been given and now sitting here I am thinking; they might not be who we think they are.

Peeta hands me a bottle of water which I accept straight away, I take in a large amount; more than I should, but with all the heat and what just happened I need it. "We are almost there Katniss, just another hour and we will be in the middle, we could find a way out" Peeta says trying to get my spirits back up. "It's not that simple Peeta, we have to finish this remember, there's no going back if Joanus is still alive. Panem could be at war now, we don't know" I reply rubbing my face with my arm.

Getting back to my feet I brush myself down. "Come on, let's see what's in this building" I say positively. I turn to Gale to thank him, but before the words come out of my mouth he stops me. "Don't Katniss, just don't" he says.

I see Peeta looking at me and then to Gale before turning away and walking with his hands crossed. I have a horrible feeling there is tension building up between them. I can't deal with that not on top of everything else.

As we near the open space which surrounds the building and what looks like a cornucopia, I begin thinking to myself and start talking out aloud. "That girl, she could have shot me first, I wouldn't have even seen her why did she kill the boy first". Peeta is walking alongside me and seems confused by the random question. "I don't know Katniss, perhaps after what was announced she wanted to make sure he didn't get you. I don't like it but everyone else in this arena apart from us and the 3 others are hunting for you, it's their way out of here" he says. It could work in our favour, well for the others at least. If I am the prime target, any group that finds us will probably kill each other before attacking us, that would give us chance to get in first.

We are on guard more than ever; the heat is sapping away at our strength and starving our brains of oxygen. Every movement in view causes us to grab our weapons, even the slightest breeze through the leaves on the bushes.

We all stand looking at the large flat building, its close enough for us to get a good look at it, but far enough away for anyone not to be able to attack us from it.

It reminds me of the seam, rusty walls and a roof covered in moss and grass which has found its way up there somehow. There are two entrances, one large double door on the front and a smaller side door. "We need to make sure everyone knows what they are doing before we go in" Gale says checking his knife. "I just wish this was a rifle, can't say I have used this type of thing much before, well apart from the sewers in the Capitol" he adds.

"We need to go through the side door; if we try the front doors it will cause too much noise. 2 people cover the door whilst someone goes in. We don't know what's on the other side, so planning from then is impossible" Fergus says.

We debate and go over some basic rules, if someone goes down for whatever reason we find the attacker first before attending them. If we get ambushed we retreat back into the open, they will know the insides better than us. We stick together, unless any of us get trapped then anyone who is safe surveys the rest of the building.

Edging our way closer and closer to the door we try to be as quiet as possible, to not only avoid detection by anyone inside, but so we can hear if there is movement. Peeta and Gauss stand either side of the door, Gale has stood up and wants to be the one to go in first. The rest of us form a tight circle behind them, Tressa watching the rear.

I can almost hear myself breathe, my heart is racing so much I am finding it hard to concentrate. Gale puts his hands on the door and pushes. Nothing; he grabs the handle and turns it. "It's locked" he whispers back to us. He gestures that he is going to force it open, this may be a very bad idea, but if Fergus is right we might be able to make contact with the others from here, we have to try. I reluctantly nod my head and brace myself.

Gale takes a step back and rams the door with his side; it flings open and crashes against the wall on the inside. He runs in and moves to the right quickly followed by Peeta and Gauss.

The rest of us wait, and wait, it seems like hours but it's only a few seconds before Peeta comes back out and waves us in. "Clear", he says quietly.

We walk in through the doorway, the first thing I notice is a terrible smell, as though it had been used as a sewage treatment room. I cover my nose with my wrist and shuffle my way to Peeta. Its pitch black; I can just make out the walls on the other side and what looks like tables in front of us. "Wait here, I am going to try and find something to light it up" Gale says as he walks away in to the darkness.

Johanna is right up against me almost using my body as a form of stand. "Never been great in the dark, especially after being locked up in the Capitol for so long" she says in my ear. Just then I hear footsteps, I grab Johanna's hand. "I hear it" she says. "It's coming from outside?" Peeta adds. "No it's from the direction Gale went. I pull my bow from my back and prompt the others to ready their weapons. Then a silhouette walks towards us, I suddenly feel the urge to swallow even though my mouth is dry. My hands begin to shake as I pull out an arrow. "Here look, there's only a light switch right next to us" Gale says moving into view. "I thought I was going to have to make some kind of homemade torch then" he laughs. He turns and presses a large green button on the wall and the room is flooded in a white light. Then as our eyes adjust slowly, we all see what this room was for and why it smells so rotten.

I count 35 maybe 40 tables, each one has a white board on it with a name and on top lays a body. I immediately feel myself wanting to be sick as my eyes scan the room. Some of the bodies look like they have been there just a couple of hours, the others weeks.

Tressa and Gauis suddenly make a bolt for the door holding their mouths. I am just about to follow them when I notice one of the bodies looks familiar, I walk over to it and lean over. "The girl, from last night. It's the girl that was killed last night, this, this place is a morgue for everyone who has been killed here". I turn around and quickly run towards Peeta covering my mouth with my hands. I am swaying side to side and as I reach him my foot catches something on the floor.

A loud click stops my tears instantly and moments later a buzzing sound comes from both the floor and the walls next to us. Gauis and Tressa must have heard it too as they both run in together. We all stand watching as a huge wall begins to collapse onto itself revealing rows and rows of bodies. These are even worse than the others some almost in skeletal form. I turn and run out of the room, I can't bear to look at it any longer. I fall to my feet on the ground outside and cover my ears. I hear Peeta calling me as he runs over; he puts his hands on my back and just crouches next to me. I roll over on to my back and try to wipe my tears from my eyes. Peeta's face looks drained of life; he is visibly sweating and shaking. I look down at his hands they are clenched tightly into fists. "I need to go Katniss; I need to get away from here" he says bluntly. "What, where can you go Peeta it's not safe here?" I reply.

I have seen Peeta like this many times before, he is having a flashback again, only now he has no fields to run off too. "They, they look like the cells in the tribute centre, where they create the mutts" he screams at me. Gauis comes running out and puts his arms around Peeta and moves him away from me. "Peeta, no, not now" I cry back to him.

"I will deal with this, leave it to me" Gauis says directing Peeta towards some small trees around the back of the building. I just sit there, I don't know what to do, and everything I know is falling apart in front of me.

Johanna walks over and sits next to me. "He'll be ok, I don't know if he told you but when we were in those cells in the capitol, they used to put bodies in the ones opposite us. They'd sit them up as though they were still alive and watching us. It was the last thing we saw before going to sleep and the first thing when we woke up. I can tell it isn't pleasant sitting looking at one when their jaw falls off." She says.

I gaze back at her trying to comprehend what she had just told me. Peeta never spoke of this before; in fact, he hardly ever talks about when he was in the Capitol and the tribute centre. I don't ask in fear of him going back to how he was for many days after he was rescued.

Johanna suddenly stops and stands up. "Marcus" she says and runs back into the building. It had never crossed my mind that her boyfriend could be lying there on one of those tables and here's me just acting like a young girl. I get up and walk back to the building and see Johanna rush through the doorway. I am almost back when Fergus comes out. "You only gone and found it!" He says grinning. "Found what" I reply. "There are lines of data connections in there, I am going to be able to tap into their system, and it looks like the ones I saw in the Capitol and Coriolanus' mansion" he replies. I find it strange that he can be so happy in a situation we have just found ourselves in but I am feeling a little bit better knowing we might be able to contact the others.

I walk back through the doorway intent on keeping my eyes firmly focused on the floor. I can see Johanna moving around looking at each body. As Marcus was one of the latest to be taken from Panem he will at least look still normal if he has been unlucky and is in this place. "Here, whatever you accidentally pressed just then opened this floor too, come down with me" he says. I am actually glad that I am again going somewhere I have never seen before, anything to get away from what's in this room. We both take the stairs leading down to a short corridor. There are several doors on either side but Fergus leads me to one on the left. "If I have the time I can get in to the system from here, I need your holo" he says.

I take the holo from the clip on my suit; switch it on and hand it to him. He begins pulling and splitting the cable he has been carrying and pushes one end into a socket in the wall and the other into the back of the holo. "I don't know how long we will get Katniss, I am sure if they haven't already found out we are in here, they will once they notice someone in their system" he says. He begins pressing things on the holo and suddenly a keyboard slides out from one of the walls shortly followed by a screen. "We're in" he says excitedly. I am not the most intelligent when it comes to computers but one thing on the screen stands out to me. "Contestant Launch".

"What do you think that does" I say pointing to it on the screen. "Probably how they send the people in to the arena" Fergus says. I am curious straight away and my finger moves closer to the button.

"I don't think you want to be pressing that Katniss, it will almost definitely sound some form of alarm" Fergus says pushing my hand away. The temptation is overwhelming me so I force myself to leave him and exit the room. I glance down the corridor, its gloomy just a couple of red bulbs on the walls with the lighting upstairs casting shadows. I have to stop myself once again from going and trying another door. No Katniss, don't make things worse I think to myself.

I reach the bottom of the stairs and Johanna is standing at the top looking down "Well, he's not here, at least that's something" she says. I smile back at her as I reach the same level. I need to do something useful but I can only think of Peeta so I decide to go back outside again. As soon as I leave the building I see Peeta and Gauis sitting down on the grass just a few feet away, he looks better. "Hey Katniss" he says looking up at me. "I almost lost it then, sorry" he adds. I sit down beside him, Gauis slides away and stands up. "I'll leave you to it then" he says. "Thank you for helping" I reply.

We sit there for a few minutes just staring into nothingness, it's quiet and I feel calm. "Those people, just lying there" Peeta says, his voice shaken. "I know Peeta, Johanna told me, you don't have to worry" I reply. He looks at me as if I was about to tell him off. "Remember, no secrets" I say winking at him. I look back towards the building and notice something on the floor. Walking over I already know what I am looking at, around 60 feet from it in the ground is a grey round metal plate with an arrow etched into it pointing towards the building with the bodies in. This is the contestant launch; this is where the contestants enter the arena.

Peeta joins me obviously wondering what I am looking at. "Is that what I think it is" he says bending down. "Katniss! If this is where they come up, what's stopping us from going out through there!" he says. "But we need to stop Joanus, we can't just escape now, what about the others" I reply.

"If we find them and we can't get into the tower this is our way out, Fergus could probably get them up". I am almost about to say that I saw the button on the screen downstairs, but I can't, Peeta will want to go through it now and we still have a mission to follow. If we leave now Panem might be overrun by the time we get home, if we make it back that is.

"You need to listen to this Katniss" Gale says stood in the doorway and is frantically waving me over; he rushes me down to the room where Fergus has been working.

Johanna and Tressa stand staring at me, they look like they have seen something terrible. Gauis presses the holo and we hear Haymitch's voice. "Katniss— god— I shouldn't be doing this— Look I am not sure if you are hearing this or even if you are alive— If you get this message it's got really bad here. A couple of days after you left districts 7, 8 and 12 have been invaded by troops from Precia. Paylor has called a mandatory enlisting and she's assembled around 2,000 soldiers. We are at war Katniss, this is real. We are on full lock down here in 13, your children and mother are safe, don't worry about them. Just get out of there as soon as you can. If you can get to Joanus kill him, kill him before it's too late". The holo hisses before silence.


	14. Chapter 14

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 30

**Chaper 12**

I wake up from the nightmare with Peeta and Gale sitting on the ground both looking down at the grass next to me, then I realise I should have stayed asleep as this nightmare is happening whilst I am awake.

I look around and notice Frostine, Helsa and Fergus all sobbing. I remember the feeling when I was first picked as tribute for 12, your mind goes blank, everything around you disappears the only thing you can think of is how you are going to die. No one else matters only this time we don't get to say goodbye to our loved ones, we can't wave to our fellow districts before boarding a train. No, today we are in the Games without even knowing it.

"Well this is just great, you win one games then get picked to go in another, just because you won. Now there's another one we have just happened to stroll into" Johanna says waving her axe around. I am tempted to tell her to calm down, that reaction will not be helping the others who have not seen the inside of an arena before. But I know what she is going through, perhaps it's better to let it all go now rather than when we have to fight to stay alive.

"Do you think it's like before, only one victor" Peeta says pulling up some grass. I gaze at his hands as he grasps it tightly before letting it drop to the ground. I have seen this before and remember Finnick with his rope, he said it was to let him focus, for his brain to forget everything that hurts.

"I don't know, but one thing's for certain if we can get to the tower we can stop it all" I reply. Gale overhears and slaps his hands on his legs. "That's it, we get to the tower break in and kill Joanus, it will end all of this" he says confidently.

"Gale, it's not as simple as that, you may at some point have a decision to make whether to kill someone in this group, Katniss, me, Johanna? Could you do that with no thought" Peeta says. Gale ponders the question for a moment, he looks up from the ground and stares out over the hills. "I guess I have to; you both have done it before you tell me" he replies.

"No Gale, in the games before, everyone in the arena were strangers I only had Peeta, even when we had allies you couldn't let your guard down for one second. We know everyone in this group; it would be like killing one of your friends" I say.

"We stick together, like you said we are all in the same team, we all help each other. If we stay together no one will be able to pick us off" he says. He is right; we must carry on but make sure no one gets left behind. I take several deep breaths and tell the group the plan, it seems to cheer one or two of them up but I can see some are still visibly shaking.

We all begin moving once more towards the area we found on the holo. It may have been the reason Joanus found us but we now have the upper hand on anyone else in here, we can find things quicker. My worry now is what the blank area is; could it be like the pods in the Capitol ready to fire on us with bullets or flames, or what I am hoping places where we shouldn't be that might help us find food, water or even to escape.

We reach a small dip between two hills and we can now see the round shape in front of us. We still have no idea if it's a water tower but we are close enough to it now to avoid getting lost.

"Maybe 30 more minutes and we will be there" Gauis says.

I begin to slowly edge my way down the slope and notice my footing beginning to give way. I shake my head and take a few more steps. This time I stumble and put my hands out behind me to stop my fall. "You ok Katniss, those boots not great for rock climbing hey?" Tenney says. I grin, but just as I am about to lift myself back up I feel the ground move. "Did you feel that" Gale shouts over. "Yeah must be something going underneath, I bet they have tunnels all over the place" Peeta replies. I manage to get to my feet and brush my hands, then all of a sudden a loud thunderous roar echoes around the hills. We all freeze in our spots; I look up expecting another hovercraft to be blasting above us then the ground begins to move once more. "This doesn't look good" Peeta shouts trying to stay on his feet.

Immediately after the words had left Peeta's lips some of the rocks around my feet begin to roll down the hill. I feel myself rising upwards as though I was on an escalator, I turn round to look at Peeta. A crack has formed between us and I stand motionless, watching it snake its way around the ground getting larger. "Earthquake, grab on to something" Fergus shouts. I slam myself to the ground grabbing onto anything I can find, roots, grass, stones. Everyone is now lying face down on the floor when the loudest noise I have ever heard makes me cover my ears. Huge mounds of rock banging into each other, I am helpless and watch Tenney, Frostine and Helsa disappear below us. Johanna gets up and begins to run towards me, I put my hand out to give her something to grab on to and then the ground beneath her feet drops away. At the last second she manages to find enough energy to throw herself through the air, almost as if the time had been slowed down I watch the desperation on her face.

Her hand grabs mine and she falls on top of me; I feel her slipping down my back and her hands frantically grasping at my legs. I turn and put my hand back towards her and she manages to cling on. The ground is bouncing up and down violently; Gale who was just a few feet away from me is now drifting further and further away as though he was an iceberg in the ocean. My eyes are rapidly scanning for Peeta; I can't see him "Peeta!" I scream at the top of my voice, but it's drowned out by the smashing of rocks. I feel a pull on my arm and turn my head Johanna begins to wave at me and points.

Its Peeta, the ground he was on has moved up above us and he is peering down from the edge he is clung onto. Despite the horrific situation we are in, I am relieved that Peeta is ok. Then his section drops from the sky and falls into darkness.

I can't breathe; it feels like someone has my neck and is closing their grasp to cut off the last remaining air from my lungs only no one is. I can't be bothered anymore, what's the point, we are all going to die here in this death trap and the rest of Panem will fall to Joanus. My children will have the life I had in fear that the Games may one day come for them.

Even if 13 retaliates, even if they try to defend the soil, they can't launch attacks on their own people. If Joanus gets his troops into Panem we would have no way of finding them on such a large scale. He would then be able to eat up every last bit of hope from the inside out.

The dust settles and the ground becomes still once more. Johanna is still clinging on to me, almost breaking the skin on my back with her nails.

My ears are still ringing from the sound of rocks banging against themselves, but in the distance a voice. "Everyone ok?" it's Gale, I look over towards the voice and he is stood on a section of earth no bigger than a table with drops all around him. Johanna shouts back "We are ok, but we can't see Peeta and Tenney, Helsa and Frostine went down over there" she says. "Yeah we good" Fergus shouts with Gauss staggering next to him. "Nothing a drop of water won't fix anyway" he adds. "Peeta" I whisper to myself "Why, why did we do this?" "Come on lets' see, he might be ok Katniss, he might be just lower down" Johanna says pulling my arm to get me up to my feet. We edge our way over to the side of the rock we are on and look over the side. I am so scared, shaking, I am not sure I want to know. What if he is at the bottom of a deep cavern lifeless.

"See, I told you, he's a fighter just like you Katniss" Johanna says. I open my eyes and there some 50 feet below us Peeta is staring back up at us. He looks rather comfortable considering he is on a ledge barely bigger than himself. "Ouch" he shouts up to us almost laughing. "I was going to say jump to me but I guess that wouldn't have been a good idea" he adds. Once again, at the thought of losing Peeta a tear rolls down my cheek. That boy, he is either really lucky or really unlucky and I can never work out which it is.

"Don't suppose you have any rope up there do you" Peeta shouts. I turn round to look, Stipar, he was carrying all the wire we had when we got separated by the force field.

Just then we hear a thud next to us, Gale has somehow managed to traverse across to us and now there is 3 of us all huddled together. "Can't he jump up; you know with his legs" Fergus says sitting down on the ground across from us.

"Peeta, use your legs, try and get a grip somewhere and pull yourself out, your strong, you can do it" I say, partly to get him to at least try but mostly to reassure myself. He looks back at us with a sense of amazement of what I had asked him to do, Jump up 50 feet from a ledge just a foot wide. Thinking it back to myself it is actually a crazy idea, but we don't have any other options and who knows if it will start again. We need to get away from this area.

Peeta stands looking up at the wall of earth and begins stepping to the left and then the right mapping out things he can grab onto, roots, rocks, pipes, as long as they are secure enough it doesn't matter. Then as if in a split second he leaps up. I want to close my eyes, but before I can even blink he has jumped onto a thick root and is frantically swinging to get a foothold onto a rock. The three of us look on helplessly as he manages to get his left foot onto a rock just before the root begins to come away from the wall of mud. He leans his whole body onto his standing foot and pushes up. Unbelievably in just 2 leaps he has his hands on the edge near our feet. Gale pushes between us and puts out his hands to help him up, as if he wanted to save him. Perhaps he knows that we need Peeta if we are ever going to get out of this place.

"What about the others, they must be in the same situation I was" Peeta says scanning the surroundings.

"If they are we have no way of getting to them. That gap is more than a hundred feet; we can't get across that with what we have" Gale says. "We can't just leave them to die, I won't" I reply. Then I remember my holo, I can see them on it maybe there would be a way of contacting them. If not to speak to them maybe just to let them know we know where they are.

Joanus located us from my last transmission attempt as we entered the arena, it won't make a difference now if I use it. I switch it on and check the map scanner. Our dots are shown instantly, then after a couple of seconds I can see the others and even better they are all moving together. "They made it, they are alive" I say happily. "That's great Katniss, perhaps if we go round we can meet back up with them" Peeta says. "We carry on to the water tower, we need that first and then we can see where they are from then" Gale replies stubbornly. I agree with him though, it will be no use if we haven't gotten the water, after all it's why we were here when this happened anyway.

It doesn't take us long to reach the edge of the tree's, we can see below us a small building and to our delight a water tower. Now our problem is getting to it, if Joanus is anything like how barbaric his father was, no doubt it will not be a case of simply walking up to it and pouring into our bottles. There could be traps or even worse "contestants" if that's what we are to be called now.

I notice Gauis walking up behind me and he stands there silently as if he was waiting for me to announce something. "I'll go; you all watch the area and let me know if anything looks wrong" he says. "No, we stick together, I don't want any more of us to be split up, we are safer in numbers" I reply.

"Thing is Katniss if we all go in, what if it's a trap, we could all be killed instantly" Gale adds. "I will go with Gale and Gauis, three of us should be enough for anything, it would be good if someone could watch over us". Peeta says strongly. Gale seems to be slightly reluctant to agree, he has never seen inside an arena. The Capitol wouldn't show anything that wasn't exciting so apart from girls and boys killing each other. He doesn't know what it's like to be so scared of approaching something or someone it makes you physically sick. He goes along with it though, maybe it's the stubbornness showing itself again, maybe he is too proud to say he's scared.

I sit down with Johanna, Tressa and Fergus and we watch as they begin walking down the hill together. "He still loves you" Johanna whispers to me. "I know, that's why he shouldn't be here, it could jeopardise everything. I don't want him trying to get one over Peeta and getting us all killed, even worse getting Peeta killed" I whisper back. She looks at me dead in the eyes before lowering her head "You don't have feelings for him at all?" she says. "Not anymore, I didn't know what love meant until Peeta was electrocuted in the games. It was then I knew I couldn't be without him" I say. "Nothing to do with the bombing outside Snow's mansion then?" She adds. "No, I know Peeta would do anything for me, and I would him. When Snow told me it was 13 who dropped those bombs I knew Gale would be involved in it somewhere. But deep down I wanted to think he wouldn't have let it happen. If he knew we had medics on the ground. I never wanted to see him again after that day, but now we're here and although I am glad we can still be friends I knew it was only Peeta I wanted well before then" I reply.

"They're getting close" Tressa says; probably trying to stop us from gossiping. My eyes are flicking back and forth trying to cover all the area around them, then I notice them all stand still at the same time. Gale walks forward on his own, I try and adjust my eyes to try and see what he is walking towards. Then I notice a man kneeling down against the base of the tower. "Gale!" I shout down to them. It's too late.

The man gets up and runs towards Gale he has a spear type weapon in his hands. Gale turns and attempts to run but the man leaps at him and swings the spear into Gale. We all get up and begin running down the hill. Although the water tower is just a couple of hundred feet away It feels like miles as I struggle to keep my footing. As I get to the bottom, just a hundred feet from me I watch as they both fight on the floor rolling one way and another. The man pins Gale down on the floor and raises the spear. The point is lined up towards Gales head, he brings back his arms above his head and starts to push down. I begin to stumble on the uneven ground beneath me, just as I am about to hit the ground Peeta comes from the side and smashes a rock to the side of the man's head.

The man falls to the side with blood gushing from the side of his face. Gale pushes him off and sits up. The man lies motionless next to him. I get back to my feet and continue to run over. As I get closer I can see a big gash in Gales arm. "What did you think you were doing" I scream over to Gale. "You don't get to talk to people, they are not here for a chat, they have been forced to murder in here, don't you get it?" I add. I kneel down next to him "It's Ok Katniss, I'm ok, just a flesh wound, I just thought—" he says. "That's it, you don't have time to think in here right?" I shout back.

"Don't worry it won't happen again, besides Peeta saved me". Gale gets gingerly to his feet and slowly walks over to Peeta. He puts his hand out "Thank you Peeta, you, you saved my life" he says. Peeta puts his hand out and they shake firmly "No problem, I owe you for not killing me in the Capitol, heck there was so many times you could have just got rid of me and you didn't" Peeta replies. They both look at each other knowingly. I am not sure what to think, Gale was almost killed and Peeta's saying he could have been by Gale, now they are both shaking hands!

I walk up to Peeta and put my hands on either side of his face and kiss him "Thank you Peeta". I say. He knows that Gale probably still loves me but he is that great a man that he would save anyone even a rival. "We need to get you cleaned up" Tressa says to Gale pulling out a length of cloth. She ties it around his arm. "That should stop the bleeding, it's not a deep cut, could do with stitches but I don't think Joanus will let us have any of that. We will have to keep a look out for anything to change it as soon as we can".

"I just hope we get to Marcus so I can have my moment with him" Johanna says. It may have been what she meant but it certainly managed to make us all refocus. "Hey, if you aren't too busy there's water here we need to collect" Fergus calls over to us all. We quickly rush over to the tap to fill every bottle we have. Then we hear a sound I know all too well, a canon the signal of someone losing their life. I had hoped that Joanus would have overlooked that deathly gesture, but I guess with it being one of the main 'attractions' to the Games he would have wanted to have kept it in for posterity.

We have managed to fill all our 12 bottles and the poor soul now lying dead at the base of the tower had 3 bottles as well so we have enough for all our group, if we ever find the rest of them that is.

"We should have a look inside the building, see if there is any food or other supplies we can take with us" Fergus says walking over to an iron door. "It could be trapped" I shout over.

He is just about to turn the handle on the door when we hear a hissing noise coming from a speaker in the roof of the building and then Joanus speaks. "Well, well, well. Seems you aren't the fighter you are made out to be Katniss. And as for your friends, 3 of them are heading in the complete opposite direction to you and your head of security almost gets killed by the first person he sees. My Games aren't for the enjoyment of the public, my games have a purpose. Oh and his name was Brinyard, he was from district 7. You might see some others from that district on your travels Johanna" he begins laughing. Johanna pulls her axe out from her belt and runs up to the speaker. "Now, now, don't be like that we are all in this for the same reason remember. Panem needs a leader that can truly lead, if Katniss had anything in her she would be where Paylor is now; she was supposedly the one who won the uprising? Anyway before you destroy my speaker he's a little something for your journey".

The door next to Fergus clicks and opens, Fergus takes several steps back expecting the worst. "Don't worry, we don't have sponsors in here, you see, just some small rations. I am enjoying watching you Katniss, I do hope we get the chance to meet, but I fear there will be only two opportunities. Either you are just about to kill me or I am in my rightful place in the Capitol and President of Panem". Johanna's axe crashes down onto the top of the speaker and in a flash it smashes into half and falls to ground in flames.

"Will you do me one thing in all this Katniss" Johanna says. "Let me kill him, I don't want you changing your mind like his Father" she adds. I feel hurt by her comments; she is a harsh woman who hates indecisiveness. I had to do what I did otherwise we would have had two enemies Joanus and eventually Coin once the people of Panem revolted against her new games.

"I will get it done Johanna, we need to put an end of this legacy once and for all" I reply.

We walk into the building and suddenly the room lights up inside. We know there are camera's watching us, but there in front of us is a wooden crate full of food. Game, rice, bread.

"They could have given us something to carry it all in" Peeta says trying to force as much as he can into his pockets. After a short while we have all gotten as much as we can carry and leave the building. "Where do we head now" Gauis says looking over at me. "I guess we head towards the centre, hopefully meet up with the others" I reply.

We walk to the base of the hill and I notice Fergus isn't with us. I turn around and look back at the building. He comes running out, just as he gets a few feet away from the doorway a huge fireball comes streaming out of the door with so much force it flies off its hinges. A cloud of black smoke rises up into the sky. Fergus rushes over to us and we all stand and wait for his explanation. "We don't want anyone else finding what's left do we" he says out of breath. "I wired the lights up together and poured water over them, quick way to cause an electrical fire" he adds. "He's right, we have enough food now for a good few days, we don't know how many enemies we will come across on the way. Hopefully they haven't been as lucky and they will be weak" Peeta says.

I don't reply to either of them, I turn and begin to walk up the slope of the hill I fell down earlier. They are both right but I don't like the idea of a beacon of smoke rising up for the whole of the arena to see.

As we reach the top of the hill I turn back to look at the building. The smoke has risen so far its touching the top of the force field over the arena. "It could work in our favour; perhaps the others will see it and head this way too?" I say to the group. "We need to hurry then, it's starting to get dark and if they are coming to us, everyone else could be as well" Gale says.

We have been walking for around half an hour when we hear a scream in the distance. We all fall to the ground to cover our position and hope no one can see us. It's almost complete darkness now, in the distance we can see what seems to be a flashlight moving rapidly across the fields. It moves one way then the other before coming straight towards us. It's a good way off so no one would be able to reach us from that far away. Then all of a sudden the light drops and points straight to the sky. It seems to flash on and off for a few seconds before staying still. "What was that" Johanna whispers. The cannon sounds again, it seems to echo around several times as though it had fired more than once but we know it was someone being killed. There must have been a chase happening and whoever it was holding the light had made themselves too visible to others. "Could have been one person against another or a group of people together" I say.

"Do you think they would have allies, in here?" Peeta questions me. "I wouldn't know; you know how hard it was for me to agree to have them in the last games. But I am different, I don't make friends easily" I reply.

Peeta smiles "You do; they only have to ask you what your favourite colour is" he replies. I prod him in the chest jokingly "Did you tie your laces today" I smirk back at him.

It's been a while since the cannon sounded and we haven't seen any movement near us so we continue the walk towards the middle. As we reach the valley of two hills we notice a river running between us and the centre area, it has trees around its edge deep enough for someone to hide away.

"This looks like a good place for us to stop for the night" Gale says. Tressa calls over. "I'll do first watch; we take it in turns Katniss?" She says. "Yes I'll go second". We find an area in the middle which has a small clearing and put down our food and gear. "Make sure your weapon is within touching distance and don't let it out of your sight" I say to the group.

Gale sits down at the furthest part of the clearing looking out towards the river. I don't know why but if he is anything like me the first night in an arena is a lot to take in. The rest of the group seem to prefer to sit close together.

Just then a beam of light points in from the middle of the arena to the top of the force field. It's the contestants who have been lost in the day's battles. Another haunting image I wished I would never have to see again.

Two people are shown, Brinyard Masons and Candair Raven, the second one was a girl who looked no more than 13, long golden hair down to her shoulders. I couldn't help but think of Prim but at least I can remember her having never had to participate in this torture. That poor girl was obviously running away from someone; she must have been terrified. I just hope her end was a quick one. The light goes out and the arena is plunged into darkness again.

Johanna walks over to me and Peeta and lies back looking up at the virtual sky. "I hope I get the chance to be like you with Peeta if I ever see Marcus again. I want to have what you have." she says. I put my arm around her, she really is a difficult person to read, one minute she wants to fight the world, the next she is like a loved up school girl. I prefer her like this. "You will, I will make sure of it" I reply. "If Joanus has put him in this arena with us, if he's dead, I have no reason to live again, and to be honest I don't think I can take it any more" she says beginning to cry. I pull her close trying to give her as much reassurance as possible. "He will be ok; I don't think even Joanus would put him in to be killed without there being a dramatic ending. No he's still alive; my worry is if he will recognise you if he sees you" I say. "He doesn't know I'm here" She says sitting up quickly. "He never mentioned my name on the main announcement" she adds.

"Maybe there's a way we could let him know, somehow" Peeta says obviously having heard the entire conversation.

Fergus gets up and walks over to us, he sits down beside me and Johanna. "If we can find a way of accessing the system that displays up there; I could get a message up?" he says. "Could your holo do that do you think?" Johanna says excitedly.

"No it wouldn't be able to do it without it being connected to the system" I reply.

"Yes that's what I meant, I know how the system works and what the connections look like, all we need to do is find one and I can get in and get a message up" he says.

"Where would we find a connection though, this place is huge" Peeta adds. "If it's like what the Capitol had in their arenas there will be access tunnels around where they can ferry in supplies and fix damaged equipment. If we can find one, I can do it" Fergus says.

"My best guess is in the centre where the cornucopia would have been" I say.

"That's it then, at dawn we get across the river, head into the centre and see if there is anyone from the districts captive and look for a tunnel" Johanna says standing to her feet.

I don't need to say anything, I just look at her and nod my head. It could work and if we can get a message to Marcus what's stopping us putting out a message to Helsa, Frostine and Tenney. What if we could tell the other contestants in here we are here and to fight with us, not against us.

We have a plan, whether it will work or not is another matter but for now it's a glimmer of hope that will allow us to get some sleep before once again heading into the unknown.

**Chaper 14**

I feel rage washing down my body, something I haven't felt since finding out about 12 after being grabbed out of the games by Plutarch. I begin pacing back and forth trying to work out how to get this done and quickly. "What do you want to say Katniss" Fergus says looking at the screen. "You managed to get in so we can put a message on" I reply.

"Even better than that" he says lifting a camera from the side of the computer and placing it on a shelf pointing at me. "Go ahead Katniss, the arena is yours" he says enthusiastically. I clear my throat, take a deep breath and Fergus puts his thumb up.

"I am Katniss Everdeen of District 12, Panem; I want everyone in this arena to listen to me. We are here to save you from Joanus; we are here to get you out of Precia.

I have just been informed that this country has declared war on Panem and in the last few days 3 districts have been invaded. We need to stand together and fight against our captors, for our family; for our friends.

You are all here against your will, Joanus is making you fight for nothing and you don't get to leave freely if you win. You are sent back to Panem to fight for Precia. Don't let them fool you. We need to rise together to defeat him, we can do it; tomorrow we will unite for one cause. Panem!

Helsa, Tenney, Frostine, we know you are alive, you know where to go. Marcus, I have Johanna here with me she loves you, we are coming to get you".

Fergus turns off the camera and begins clapping. "Thank you Katniss" Johanna says hugging me tightly.

I turn to look at Gale and Peeta "This is going to get bad real fast now" Gale says turning for the door. "Come on we have a lot of ground to make up to get to the tower for tomorrow" I say ushering everyone one out of the room. Fergus picks up the holo. "Wait, I'll pick it up, you meet me outside with the others" I say. He frowns at me and looks confused but leaves the room.

I turn to the screen and press the contestant launch button and disconnect the holo.

As I begin to leave the building I am greeted with a deafening screeching noise like metal scraping against itself, the walls are beginning to lower all around the building. I rush out, I don't want to be inside if the whole thing is about to fall down. When I get outside I can see all the contestant pods rising up from underground, all pointing at the building. The others are all just staring.

"My god, they force the contestants to look at the bodies just before they start the games" Peeta says.

Johanna begins sobbing. "Marcus, what have they done to you" she weeps. It's not the time to pretend to her that he is going to be ok, we don't even know what state he is in. But one thing is for certain though he is still alive. "We will find him Johanna; I promise". She looks at me in doubt but she forces a smile. "Let's just hope we get to him before anyone else does." she whispers.

The Tower is still a good way off, but it is easy to track as it reaches up over the whole arena. The river we have just crossed seems to go back on itself and it looks like we will have to go over it again as we get closer.

"I think now would be a good time to eat and take in some water" Gale says taking his bottle from his pocket. I agree and we decide to spend the next thirty minutes or so preparing ourselves for what might lie ahead. We don't know if my message convinced anyone in this place to help us, I am certain Joanus will not be pleased about us hijacking his system.

I notice Peeta and Gale sat together again and although they are a reasonable distance away from me I can make out what they are saying clearly. "You've done well; you know with how you have managed to shake off the hijacking" Gale says to Peeta. "I have to take each day differently to the next, I am not pretending to be able to control it, you saw me just then. There are times I have to just get away, not because I want to hurt Katniss, but because I don't want her to see me like it" Peeta replies.

"You got plans for getting married, actually do it this time instead of making it up?" Gale says resting on his elbow. "I want to, although I have never asked, guess we haven't gotten around to it yet, we will though" he replies. "Well if you do one thing when we get out of here, propose" Gale replies. Peeta grins and looks up at the sky "You can count on that, I just hope she doesn't turn me down". "She won't" Gale says.

I gush of warmth flows through my body and it's not the stifling heat this time, it's a real sense of being wanted. I am not sure we will get out of here but I now have another reason to look forward to. My Children, my mother, Peeta and marrying the one person I fell in love with.

It's time to move on once more, we all slowly pack away our last remaining food supplies and water before checking our weapons. We are going to need them now more than ever.

Peeta and I lead the group with Gale and Johanna next in line, the others stay together. I can't blame them; they obviously went through training together and although they are still young they have made friends for life. I couldn't think of anything worse than not having anyone to care for you if you are dying in here.

We have been walking for around an hour when we come across something we have never seen before in here. A vast stretch of boggy grass lies between us and the river bank. As we step on to it our feet begin to sink in to mud below, we have to be quick or we risk being trapped in it. It's difficult but it's something we can manage, besides its making us move quicker. We are almost half way through it when I hear a scream behind us, its Tressa. We turn around; she is waving her arms around in the air and struggling to walk properly. I begin to fight my way back through the mud we had just walked through to get to her, when Fergus swings his machete at her feet. "Fergus, what are you doing" I cry out. I grab my bow thinking that something must have happened to him when I feel something tightening around my foot.

I look down and struggle to make out what it is, the grass, leaves and mud obscuring most of my feet. For a few seconds I am just stood there glaring at nothing then I feel a sharp pain in the back of my other leg. Turning round it becomes obvious, this swamp isn't just something to slow people down, to trap them, it's full of snakes. Worst still from their deformed appearance its clear they are mutts.

"Run!" Peeta shouts lifting one off his shoulders and throwing it to the ground. Gale is swinging his sword around and bits of grass, mud and parts of snake are flying through the air. Tressa falls to the ground face first, she raises her head "Go, get out of here, it's no use" she yells. Fergus looks at her and puts his hand to his face before turning and striding towards me. I stand there helpless as a snake wraps itself around her neck and pulls her under the surface. "We have to go. Now!" Gauis shouts. I turn back but which way do we head we are in the middle of all this?

I drag my foot out of the mud and kick off the snake that had wound its way around it and begin pushing my way through. For some reason it's harder to walk now, perhaps it's my brain telling me what I am actually walking through isn't just mud. Another needle like pain shoots up my other leg and it feels like boiling water rushing up to my back. I feel sick but we have to make it across to the other side.

Peeta runs over to me and acts as a balance on one side to help me move quicker. Gale is up ahead pointing to us the best ways to get through it and eventually, exhausted, we finally push our way out of it. We fall down at the edge of the river in a mix of emotions. Happy we have got through but devastated for Tressa. "I can't believe she's gone" Fergus says desolate. "I couldn't get it off, I couldn't get it off her" he adds.

"You did your best, we were all in the same situation it just overcame her, you couldn't do anything more than you did" I say to try and console him. Fergus gets up and sits down at the side of the river looking across the water. Nothing can be said to him that will make him feel any better, I know how he feels. It's best to just leave him alone to make up his own mind and put it to rest in his own time.

It's beginning to get dark again, with us being inside an arena we have no idea how long the days are, maybe Joanus wants to end today as quickly as possible, so whatever he is planning can be setup during the night.

We all knew it was coming but the sound of the cannon makes us all jump; I say to myself "Bye Tressa, I am so sorry". Moments later, the beam of light shines up from the middle of the arena on to the roof. Tressa's picture is displayed, then of the 2 from the bridge. "The others are going to be worried seeing that" Gale says looking up at the pictures. I just hope they are ok and seeing the sight of just one of us lost after so long is enough to believe we can do this.

The crossing this time will not be as easy or as obvious as the last time. There are no bridges to compress contestants together, the only away across this time is going through it. The flow doesn't seem as strong here so at least we won't be dragged further away downstream. The problem is whilst we are in the water not only are we susceptible to anything in it, but also we are prime targets for anyone who sees us and there will be little we can do about any attack.

We pluck up our courage and start to gradually lower ourselves into the water. I hadn't thought about it but almost immediately I feel better as the water is cool, not so much as it takes your breath away but enough to take the edge off the heat of the arena. It also helps with my bites on my legs, I haven't even looked at them yet but already they feel better simply by standing here.

Within a couple of minutes we are in chest deep, it's beginning to be a struggle to keep balance. Although the flow isn't strong, the ground is uneven and it appears to have rocks and plants that makes my footing slip. I look around the banks, its dark now and hopefully the rest of the people in here have given up for the night. We are just about half way across when I see Gauis suddenly drop below the water. I gasp not sure whether to shout to the others, my eyes as wide as torchlight's, then as quickly as he went under he comes splashing back up yelling. I am the first to him and it's difficult to make out what he is saying, something about his leg or ankle. My first thought it to put my head under the water but it's useless, with it being dark outside it is impossible to see just a few inches in front of you beneath the surface of the water.

Gale and Peeta reach us and they begin lifting Gauis up. "What is it Gauis" Gale shouts at him looking at him straight in his eyes. Gauis is obviously in severe pain and simply can't form a sentence anyone can understand; the only word we can make out is "Leg". None of the rest of us are having any problems so it seems as though there are no traps in this water. "Can you two help him across, we are over half way now" I say. Peeta and Gale simultaneously grit their teeth and let out a grunt as they both lift Gauis' arms above their shoulders. I wave Johanna and Fergus on up ahead to keep going, it will be better for us all if we can get at least two of the group to the bank ahead of the rest of us, to enable us to get Gauis out easier.

We are all on edge again trying not to make too much noise. We are three quarters of the way across, ahead of us Johanna stops and grabs Fergus. They are a little too far away to make out what's happened but it's clear that it's not good. "You're not going to believe this" Johanna shouts back to us. "Whatever we have just walked into isn't water and its pushing against us" she adds. "Is there a way around it?" I say. "No and it's getting worse Katniss" Fergus replies.

We catch up with the two of them quickly and can now feel what they were both complaining about; it almost feels like we are standing waist deep in glue, just putting one foot in front of the other is almost impossible. "This isn't going to work" Gale says looking at Gauis, who is almost unconscious with the pain of whatever is wrong with him.

For nearly ten minutes Peeta and Gale use all their energy trying to get Gauis through the thick black liquid and only manage a couple of feet. The bank is still thirty or forty feet away and neither Johanna nor Fergus have made it and they aren't carrying a three-hundred-pound man.

"We are going to have to allow the flow, push us away downstream, we have no choice Joanus must have set something up here to make it harder for us to cross" Peeta says struggling to keep Gauis above water. "We don't know how bad he is, we don't know how long we have Katniss and we need to decide now" Gale adds.

A million things run through my head all at once, this is a decision that could shape our futures and it's got to be done in seconds.

"You two keep going, reach the banks, once you have follow it downstream, we are going to ride it until we can get across easier" I shout to Fergus and Johanna. They both look confused but neither raises any arguments and carry on wading through the liquid.

Gale and Peeta look at each other and nod, before raising Gauis once more and letting go of their footing. They speed away instantly and before I have even turned in their direction they are twenty feet away. I lift my feet up and feel a gust of water beneath me, almost like a jet and I am forced back down the river behind the other three. I try to glance back at Johanna but they are already far out of view. We are now hurtling down a river in pitch black darkness not knowing where we are heading or what we might hit.

For a few moments I feel a sense of relaxation my body floating along the water moving its way around my worn damaged body there are stars in the sky, it's quiet apart from the feint hiss of the water. Then just as I feel myself breathing deeply the flow begins to speed up and my head drops below the water. I come back up gasping having taken a mouthful of whatever this river is, I look up to see the others but they are now out of sight, again my head is pulled under the water. This time it's more of a battle to get back up and I seem to be pulled further down, as though we were in a sink and someone had pulled the plug. I am a strong swimmer having spent many days at the lakes and streams in 12, but this was something different I was a feather in the wind, the water was controlling me, it was deciding where I went. I was helpless, my arms were flapping aimlessly trying to steer myself towards the bank or anywhere away from this. I shout out "Peeta" when something hits my head and everything goes dark.

I wake up face down in grass, my head is throbbing, I feel my feet and they are still being moved back and forth by water. I try to lift myself up but I am too weak, I turn my head and the light shines down on my face, once again it's quiet, too quiet. I force myself to roll over on to my back and look down. I am half in the river, I put my hand up to my head and feel a cut on the side of my face, and then I feel something far worse, something that will almost certainly kill me. I feel alone. I look around struggling to turn my neck, there is no one around, no Peeta, no Gale no Gauis. I am once again on my own in an arena.

I call out for them a few times but there is no reply, the only consolation to all of this is that I am on the right side of the river. Today is the day I said we would storm the tower. I must pull myself together and carry on with what we started. I will find the others; I know I will. I take the bottle of water out of my belt and drink the last remaining drops in my small pocket and there are some nuts which was supposed to last me the remainder of the journey. There's no point in saving them, so although it's not the best of breakfasts it will have to do.

I look down at my legs, they feel ok but I have to see what the snakes did although I am not exactly keen on looking. I pull the cloth upwards along my legs and glance down. There is a bit of swelling and there are two very distinct bite marks on my left leg, but maybe there was salt in the water and it helped. The other leg isn't as good, around the bites there seems to be a green tinge to my skin. There isn't a great deal I can do about it now, but I will have to get someone to look at it as soon as I can find them.

I managed to finally get to my feet and begin walking back up the river in the direction we had agreed with the others. I am worried for Peeta and Gale; they could have come out a lot worse than me especially with Gauis. I am now trying to block any negative thoughts from my mind, but every time I allow it to wander it falls on the same thought. What if Peeta or Gale are dead, even worse what if they have been captured?

Then to top off everything that has happened I realise not only am I away from the others, but where my Holo was positioned on my belt all that remains is a snapped piece of cloth. If I am to make it, I am doing it on my own and completely at the mercy of the arena.


	15. Chapter 15

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 12

**Chaper 15**

That's it, one way or another I have to get to that tower and end this. If I have to do it on my own then I have to pull myself together, think of home and try my best to get to Joanus and do what I have come here to do. Then get back to Panem.

I feel weak, in pain and tired but my head is driving me on. I look out towards the tower; it seems relatively close now, especially as I am across the river. Perhaps another hour or so and I will be there.

I decide to keep away from the river, although its where we all lost each other, there are still others in this place and despite my plea to them yesterday some may still be fighting for what they believe is an escape. I head into the trees keeping my eyes firmly focused on my surroundings.

As I walk into a slight opening I notice some sort of bag lying on the floor. As I get closer I can tell that it's not from any of us, it's made of some kind of plastic material I have never seen before. I am somewhat nervous about opening it but it might be my last chance to get anything to keep me going till I escape. I lift it up and rest it on my knee before opening the zip. I begin to grit my teeth in anticipation of something bad happening, but nothing.

I open the sides and look inside; I see a flashlight, a knife, rope and a canister of some kind. I immediately pull the canister out and open it; there is a strange coloured liquid inside. I put my finger in slowly and after a few seconds remove it and bring it to my mouth. I allow a small drop to fall on to my lips. Its blackberry, there's enough here for a couple of days.

It almost feels like when Gale brought the bread in 12 before the reaping, like gold dust. I take a small drink of it and put it back in the bag, as I do I feel my hands touch something cold and solid. I put my fingers around it and pull it out. A picture frame, I am suddenly taken over by feelings of hurt, in the picture is a woman around 20 years old with a small boy at her feet. This bag must either be hers or perhaps the boy's father, I quickly stand up looking around through the trees.

I am now in two minds whether to leave it behind or take it with me; someone might have had to leave it here to run away. I have to take it, I am in this battle as well and I have to think for myself.

I quickly pick the bag up and zip it closed before putting it on my back and running back to the cover of the trees. I am now just about an hour away from the building and in a short while I will be out in the open. In front of me is an area of rocks, surely they wouldn't try the same thing again? Even so, I gingerly step over them, sometimes jumping from one to the next avoiding stepping on the grassed areas between.

I am almost halfway across when I hear a clicking sound, like someone throwing a rock at a wall. I lift my head up from the rocks below and there standing in front of me is the women from the picture. She is heading straight towards me, but we must have seen each other at the same time as we both stand there completely still.

I see her move her head to the side, perhaps contemplating running away then I notice her look on my back. She must have been coming back for her bag.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you" I say removing the bag from my back.

The Women watches as I place it on the floor, almost like a dog would watch its master give it a piece of meat. "I'm Katniss, Katniss Everdeen from" before I can answer the women takes a few steps forward. "I know who you are" she says pointing towards the sky. "Your face was a hundred-foot last night, it's hard not to recognise someone from that" she says.

"I know this is your bag, I am sorry, here I will leave it here and you can have it back" I reply. "So you're just going to let me have it without a fight. I know you're the Mockingjay and all that but isn't that a little stupid, especially in here?" she shouts back.

"I have to get to the Tower and kill Joanus, there is a war and Precia has invaded Panem in some districts. I am not here to fight you" I say.

"What? No?" she says sitting down. "Is 7 one of the districts" she says looking up at me. I am not really sure that I should be telling her the truth; it may turn her against me, after all had I eaten the berries in the first games none of this would have happened. I fall silent for a moment thinking. "That's all I needed to know" she says getting back up.

She begins to walk over towards me; I look to my left then right not knowing how to react. As she gets a few feet away from me she raises her hand and does Rue's whistle. From within the cover of the forest people begin coming slowly out towards us, in a matter of seconds there are 7 people there standing around me all with their arm in the air saluting.

The women walks up to me and puts her hand out, I oblige and give her mine and we shake. "I'm Bethalue, people call me Blue and we are here to help you" she says looking around at the others. Shivers begin running up and down my body, despite everything people are still willing to help me.

"I can't thank you enough for this; I wasn't sure how contestants in here would react to me" I reply as a man taps me on the shoulder. "Katniss, your war, is our war. Our Panem is yours" he says almost bowing his head.

"So I take it you didn't come here alone" Blue says. "No, there was an accident and we got separated in the river" I reply sadly. "Well, we couldn't catch up with them but I did see your man" she says grinning. "Peeta! You have seen him, is he ok?" I quickly reply.

"Yeah he looked ok, he was carrying a man, someone helping, nice looking chap" she says. "Gale" I say. "Oh yes, that lover's triangle you had going, it was the talk of 7 for weeks while you were on the victor's tour" she says inquisitively. I can tell she was hoping for a bit of information but all I say is "I am with Peeta; I love Peeta". She nods at me knowing that she perhaps over stepped the mark a little.

"We'll find them; I have a little team of my own here as well. I won't bore you with all their names, Sorna here is who I have been with since the start so he is the person I like to think has my back. We have work to do if you going to get in this tower today" she says confidentially.

Just as we are all about to continue the final few minutes of walk towards the tower a loud bang echo's around the arena, like someone slamming a metal door. We are all looking around us when I hear it, the peaceful sound of the sponsors parachute. I immediately look and see several of them falling down towards us.

"Move!" I say pushing Blue away from me; we all rush back in separate directions to the trees. I stand watching half concealed as one by one they rest onto the floor.

Instantly one of Blues men begins running over to it "Stop, it might be a bomb" I scream as loud as my voice would allow me. He stops immediately just a few feet away from one and looks straight at me. "It might be something to help us?" He shouts back, beginning to lean towards it.

I can't bear to watch and turn my back and cover my ears; I count in my head waiting for a flash and then heat but nothing. I look to my left and see a girl get up and run over. I quickly get to my feet and look around. Everyone is running over and opening the capsules. I am confused why would Joanus be helping us? There aren't sponsors involved in this, is there?

I slowly walk over to the group of people around the capsules, one of the men has a bottle of water, another a cooked piece of meat, I don't understand. Blue walks over holding a box, "I guess you will make more use out of this than I would" she says passing me a piece of paper.

I take it; it's a written message. "_Katniss, it seems I have under estimated you, much like my father did. I know you are beginning to rally troops inside my little dome. I know these aren't allies; these are all people wanting to help you to kill me._

_Well Katniss, I will make it a little easier for you, when you reach my tower you will be in for a surprise. There will be no guards waiting for your arrival, there will be no traps ready to kill you, I will even leave the front door open_

_No point in delaying the inevitable is there?_

_Oh before I leave you and your friends to the rest of my kind gestures a word of warning. As soon as you walk away from the boxes they will become armed explosives any attempt to move them will cause them to detonate, a little thing we picked up from your dear friend Gale_

_See you soon_

_Joanus Snow_"

"Everyone put down the boxes now!" I shout out to the group, almost in sync the boxes fall to the ground and everyone steps away. "They have rigged them with explosives, if we try to move them they will be detonated" I add.

"That means we are leaving them here for someone else" Blue says concerned. I hadn't realised this, we are setting up a trap for others to fall into, I look up to the sky knowing that Joanus is watching me and begin to stare. I feel the others looking at me as though I had lost my mind, I have, I am now determined more than ever to find him and kill him.

Reluctantly we move away from the boxes and march our way towards the tower. I can now almost make out the large double doors at its base; there is definitely no other way into it. All the walls are jet black and almost look like flowing water shimmering in the sun. Its surface tens of feet thick evading any form of air attack and anyone who isn't invited would never get in. On the top floor is a command centre similar to control towers from the past. A large Hovercraft pad with a radar spinning silently on top. There are windows but they are hundreds of feet in the air and it looks as though there is no way of climbing up it.

A cannon firing shatters the silence, then another, then another. I look at the others all staring back at me I am totally shocked at what I have just heard, why are people still killing each other. No, it's Joanus he's done something else barbaric in this hell hole.

With my new group we set off for the final walk to the place where all this has been contrived. As we move closer I suddenly catch a glimpse of Johanna running in front of the wall that connects to the building. I shout out to attract her attention, but she doesn't hear me and continues to run. Where she running to or what is she running from?

The others notice that I have picked up my pace and are struggling to keep up with me "Was that who I thought it was" Blue states beginning to sound out of breath. "Johanna, we have to catch up with her or at least see where she was" I reply.

Just before we get to the front of the building we have to go over a small hill, for a moment the tower begins to partially disappear as the crest raises high above us. Then we reach the foot and begin the climb up. It's not steep at all, but some of the people in the group have bigger bags than I do and it is beginning to make them fall back. "Do they really need those bags" I say to Blue. "No, not really, we have been in here for 5 days basically hiding out until there were few people left then we were going to attempt to fight the others off. With there being five that goes through we thought that most of us would be freed, well that was until your little announcement". She replies.

"Five? You really think that Joanus would have let five of you go?" I say. "Who knows but you have to believe or you go insane thinking about it. We were gathering things for the long term, we thought we would be sent back home if we survived" Blue says in a saddened voice.

"You knew how Snow worked in the Capitol, why did you think his son would be any different" I ask. "We had no option, we were drugged in Panem and thought we were being taken to be cured, then we are put into the chutes and up into this place" she answers.

"Anyway, you know all about that kind of thing, you're the master of them" she says turning to the others. "Everyone, make sure you have water and a weapon, anything else get rid of now, you're going to want to have all your movement once we get to the other side of this hill" she says.

I am reassured at her being so up front and in some respects commanding the others, although I don't feel safe with her - I don't know her, but I do sense some loyalty towards me. She thinks I am her escape from here and I will try everything to make that happen.

The following few moments all that can be heard is the movement of metal objects and rustling of bags. Everyone continues to walk while they sort through their belongings and things they have picked up whilst they have been here it almost sounds like someone going through rubbish. Then once each one of them feels satisfied that they have what they need, they drop their bags on the grass.

"Here" Blue says handing me the Blackberry juice, I take a large gulp of the liquid; it's refreshing and gives me an instant boost of energy. I hand it back to her; she does the same before hurling the bottle back down the hill.

We reach the top and we can see the Tower in full detail now. There are several doors along its base but all of them are shadowed by the huge double doors in the middle, what on earth was so big they needed them?

I begin to become anxious and feel my heart beginning to race once more. "After you Mockingjay" Blue says patting me on the back and smiling. Just then from the left of the building we notice someone running out from some small bushes. I take my bow and ready an arrow before it becomes clear who it is, Fergus. He rushes over to us hysterically.

"Katniss, I thought you were dead, everything has gone crazy". He reaches me and bends over trying to get his breath back. "What do you mean Fergus, what's happening?" I reply.

"Johanna, I lost her a few hours ago, thought she had been captured on our way here. Then…" he pauses. "She, it was so fast" he continues. "Fergus, what are you saying!" It may have been impolite, in fact probably downright rude of me to rush him in what he was saying, but he was acting very strange, not like him.

"Johanna, she attacked me, hit me from behind with a rock. I pushed her off and she was going to hit me again but she just turned and ran." He says standing back having managed to regain his breath.

"We saw her running just a few minutes ago, did you see her then?" I say. "No, I have been hiding in these bushes for the past hour or so, hoping you would make it" he replies.

I am trying to think of a reason why she would do this, perhaps she has been stung by a trackerjacker or one of those bugs that they sent into Panem. What if she has found Marcus and he's dead, that would rile her up. I don't have too long to think about it before I see Peeta running over the hill to our left. As he gets closer I can see fear in his eyes, he is almost running possessed. "Peeta, you're ok" I say, I put my bow back on my shoulder and raise my arms up to greet him. In this small moment I am as happy as I have ever been.

The others step aside allowing Peeta space to meet me, I begin to smile at him but there isn't a return in expression. For whatever reason that came into my head in that split second as Peeta got to within 10 feet of me, I dived out of the way. Just as I did so he began to scream as angry as I have ever heard him.

I get back to my feet, the others now at my side "Peeta, what's wrong" I say with my hands up in a defensive manner. He just stands there looking at me, then the others around me. "Look Fergus is here, he made it too, where's Gale and Gauis?" I say trying to find something in the way of communication. He says nothing; I grab my bow from my shoulder again and take out an arrow. "Peeta, speak to me". "Katniss, I don't like the look of this" Fergus says beginning to move in front of me. It's too late, Peeta jumps towards me with his fists at my face, I begin to duck down to protect myself as he catches my shoulder before landing behind me. I quickly turn and pull back my arrow. "Peeta no!" those were my final words before the arrow hit him right in the middle of the stomach.

He raises his hands up to the arrow and places them around the shaft. Fergus has now firmly positioned himself between us almost using himself as a shield. I peer round him and feel tears fall down my cheek. My whole life is standing there with an arrow in him that I fired. I wait for him to scream in pain but he doesn't, in fact it is as if he didn't even feel it.

"Peeta?" I say trying to hold back the tears. He looks as though he is about to walk forward but then my nightmare becomes true, he falls down backwards to the ground without a word or final breath.


	16. Chapter 16

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 14

**Chaper 16**

I am held back by Fergus as I attempt to run over to him, the rest of the group are just standing there staring at the Peeta's lifeless body.

I force myself from Fergus' grip and dive down to Peeta on the floor, his eyes are still open looking up at the sky. "Peeta, don't leave me, I'm sorry" I say putting my hands around his cheeks.

At the moment I finish my plea a strange glimmer appears in his left eye, almost a flicker, so much so that I begin to look straight at his eyes. Then a few moments later his eyes roll back so all I can see is white. His body suddenly flinches up and down, I fall backwards in shock then I hear the most terrible sound "Kaaaaaaaatnissississ". Suddenly the moment of grief and despair have been replaced with joy and relief, it's a mimic.

I stand up wiping remaining tears from my face and brushing the hair away from my cheeks. "It's not him, it's a mimic" I say to the rest of the group "He's a— what did you say" Blue says looking at me confused. "A mimic, a mutt that is in the form of a human, it's not real" I reply, almost physically sighing with relief.

"Well I didn't see that coming", we hear a voice from behind us, automatically we all raise our weapons and point them in the direction of the voice. "Woah, steady on, that's no way to greet a friend" its Johanna.

"Stand down Johanna, wait there" Fergus shouts back to her holding up his knife. "Johanna—". I am trying to think of something that Joanus wouldn't know about her to make sure it's her then it comes to me as clear as day. "When you came to see me after I got shot in 2 what was the first thing you did?" I say.

"What are you talking about; I topped up my Morphling, what a strange question". She replies. "She's fine, it's her" I say to everyone.

"Ok, sorry to have to do that" Fergus says waving her over. She walks over in only a way Johanna could and stands looking at me. "You going to tell me what that was all about. Why have you just killed your lover, where's the rest of us and who are these people?" she says crossing her arms.

"There are mimics in the arena, that isn't Peeta, we still don't know where they are. This is Blue she is going to help us get into the tower and get out of here" I reply. "Oh, I see, Mimics, Snow used them in the tribute centre, Peeta said he saw you there many times. I knew it wasn't true but now I guess it was. Only it wasn't you" she says rubbing her forehead. "That's why he became so scared of me" I say.

"Yeah, they tried them on me but since I had no one left who I cared for, no one left who loved me it didn't work. In fact, I just laughed at them." She begins to laugh "Stupid of me really that was when they cut my hair off so they could put electricity into my brain". She says brushing her hair with her fingers.

"We just seen a mimic of you running that way, I am kind of glad we didn't catch up with it, it might have ended a lot worse than this" I say. "How could it possibly be any worse than this, you killed Peeta, well a Peeta copy" she says giggling.

I turn to her smiling. "Well I know you are crazy and all but when Peeta was hijacked I knew what he was like, I was on my guard expecting it to be him having a vision or flash back. With you I wouldn't have put up a fight, you're not _that_ crazy" I say.

We all turn and look at the doors in front of us. Although Joanus said he would allow us in if we actually reached it I am not convinced. If there are mimics of us running around how will we know we are with who we think we are with.

I put my hand on the gate and look upwards, I can see the force field shivering half way up the side of the tower, it must have been like this so they could transport people in and out without having to drop the shields.

"Everyone get back and stay low, if anything happens to me retreat until its safe then try your best to get out of here" I say looking at every one of the people who stand before me.

Just as I am about to pull the lever to open the door it clicks and moves by itself. I take several steps back and bring my hands up towards my face in an attempt to protect myself. As the doors move sideways steam gushes out like fog. I begin to walk forward when out through the dense white clouds walks Peeta, Gale and Gauis. "Bout time you showed up Catnip" Gale says. I know it's them, only Gale would call me that.

I rush up to Peeta and throw my arms around him, almost taking his breath away with how tightly I hold him. "Peeta, I killed you, I thought I had killed you". He looks down at me "I saw it Katniss, it was quite brutal, we couldn't get out to help. When we got here there were guards patrolling, we just stepped in to keep out of sight but then the doors closed and we were trapped in here".

"It's the first time they have opened for hours, it's a long time to wait for the toilet I can tell you" Gale says putting his hands on both of us grinning. I turn to Gauis, he looks better but still seems a little pale. "I'm ok Katniss, think I have broken my ankle but I have this piece of metal that helps me walk. Just hope there's a lift up otherwise it's going to take me days to get up there" he says. I laugh and hug him, I am overwhelmed just moments ago I thought I had killed Peeta and we were all going to die, now I feel almost completely happy again.

"Any word from Helsa, Frostine and Tenney" I say. "No, still not heard from them, I guess you don't have your Holo?" Gale says looking at my belt. "It came off in the river" I reply sadly.

As if by coincidence at the point where we are all feeling as good as we can about the situation, everything is interrupted by the sound of explosions behind us. We all turn to see clouds of smoke coming up from the direction we had just come from.

"The sponsor boxes, someone has picked them up" I say gasping. I turn back and Gale is looking down at the ground, he raises his hands up to cover his eyes. "They used the bombs in the boxes" he says. I can't see but I can tell he is deeply upset. "If I could go back I would never have thought them up with Beetee" he says sobbing.

"Gale, this isn't your fault, Joanus is playing on everyone's feelings, and he has just done this to get to you, like he did with the mimic of Peeta".

"I think we should get inside don't you, it's looking dangerous out here" Blue says walking up to us. I nod my head and we turn to walk through the doors. As we all do so the cannon fires again, twice, three, four. Then silence. Yet again I am stopping myself from crying. I have no more tears left. The fanfare sound and in the sky the images of 2 men are shown the first looked in his late teens then a young boy, the youngest I have ever seen, he couldn't have been more than 12. If that wasn't bad enough we all stand motionless, stunned as we first see the picture of Helsa then Tenney.

Peeta pulls my head towards his and looks at me deep in my eyes. "Come on Katniss, there's nothing you can do now, maybe Frostine's ok, we have to be positive, we can do this, you can do this".

The smoke that came out from the doors has now cleared and we walk in, there is a small entrance with two rooms either side. Each room has a small window that looks to have reinforced glass. On either side of the window are two huge machine guns pointing at the centre of the room. It's obvious that if anyone got in here that they didn't want there, they would be gunned down on the spot. Gale walks over to a window and pears in using his hands to block out the rooms lights. "No one in there at all, I don't get it" he says.

"I had a message from Joanus in a sponsor box, he said he wouldn't block us from entering the building. I didn't believe him but it actually looks like he has kept his word" I reply looking at Gale and Peeta. "I still don't get it, why just let us walk in" Gale says questioning what I had just said.

"This stinks of Snow, this feels like when we got into the Capitol to rescue Peeta, Johanna and Annie" He adds.

We walk towards another door that has 6 large bolts on it, all of which have been pulled to the side to allow the door to be opened. "This is a trap, they aren't going to let us walk in there unchallenged, we will be sitting ducks— you need to check it out Katniss" Fergus says pulling my arm to get my attention.

"I'll do it; I'll go in". We turn around and watch as Blue walks through everyone and past us up to the door. "Heck what I have I to lose, if it wasn't for you Katniss I wouldn't have got out of here safely anyway. If I did I would have probably been drugged by Joanus and gone back to attack my own family. I want to help" she says.

I don't really want her to do it but she is showing that she is truly brave and willing to risk her life for others. Reluctantly I nod my head, myself, Peeta, Gale and Gauis move the others back as she rests her hand on the door.

It goes deathly silent and we all seem to take a breath at the same time as she begins to push the door open. I can see on her face terrible fear and sweat begins to run down her cheeks. Further and further the door opens and we begin to see into the other side, everything is dark. It seems like an eternity watching the door but as it rests against its frame nothing happens. Blue turns around and looks at all of us with a forced smile. She turns back and begins to walk into the darkness. At that point she almost becomes invisible we hear a loud click and lights begin to turn on in the room.

It sounds like someone using an old fashioned typewriter as hundreds of bulbs light up the room in to a dazzling white. Blue carries on walking and stops after twenty feet, she looks up and then left and right before putting her hands on her hips. "it's ok people, coast is clear but we have some work to do here" she shouts back to us without looking.

I am again questioning myself as to whether I trust her again. What if she is working for Joanus, what if all these people that are with us are guards from Precia. There is little I can do about it now though, we are in no position to back away, we are where we have travelled all this way for.

We walk into the room rubbing our eyes to adjust them to the brightness of the room. As we get to where Blue is standing I see doors all around the edge of the room, they are all see-through and every one of them has someone inside of them dressed in white.

"They are captives; I can tell by the way they are huddled up in the corner of the room" Johanna says walking towards one. I turn to Peeta, he looks quite upset by the room but he nods and says "We have to get these people out, we have to help them Katniss". I am almost expecting Gale to object as it is not our mission, but before I can look at him he is already at one of the door trying to force it open.

"There must be some sort of electrical lock on them" he says using his shoulder to try and break the door in.

Fergus walks over to Gale and begins to look at the displays on the panels next to the room. "I have seen this before, in Snows mansion, yes I think I can get this open if we can find a console" he says.

Just then Johanna lets out a high pitched scream. "Marcus!" I rush over to a room she is looking into. As I look in a man is curled up on the floor in the corner of the room with his hands over his face. He is wearing what appears to look like a surgery gown. "You sure that's him" I say looking at her. She looks at me with tears in her eyes "Yes that's him; I can recognise those hairy legs anywhere".

I walk back towards Fergus who is already looking along the walls for something. "Maybe they are in the rooms that we walked past in the entrance" I say as I watch him frantically moving his fingers up and down buttons. He turns, takes a few steps over to me and kisses me firmly on the cheek. "You're right, that's why you are here" he says almost sarcastically. He rushes back through and opens one of the doors to the security area.

"Wait!" Gale shouts from the other side of the room, he begins to run over to me "Katniss stop him" my head is trying to work out what Gale is trying to mean. As Gale rushes past me a buzzing sound sounds out from the room and red flashing lights begin flashing on each room.

In a matter of seconds one by one each door clicks and opens by itself. "They've been hijacked" Peeta says looking at me.

I am not sure what I or any of us was expecting as we attempted to watch all of the rooms. I was caught in to minds, whether to run or to wait to see if it was true what Peeta and Gale were saying. I wouldn't have to wait long, to my left closest to Sorna swings open violently and out comes a young man. The first thing I notice about him is his hair, its missing in places the rest pulled back. At first he looks quiet calm, and gradually makes his way out from the room. He hunches over looking at the people who are now occupying the area outside to which he must have spent days, if not weeks looking at.

Then just as we are focusing our attention on him a woman comes out from a room several doors down. She looks very sick, her body is badly bruised and her eyes seem to recess back into her head. Her skin looks dry as though she had not washed for a very long time, she is struggling to walk. She looks over to me and Peeta, I almost feel the urge to go to her and tell her it's going to be ok. Peeta must have pre-emptied my move as he suddenly grabs my arm preventing me from going anywhere. I look at him in a disapproving way; he simply shakes his head, which is enough for me to go along with him and stay right where I am.

I can see everyone now beginning to back off slowly from the first two who have worked out that their doors are open, they all have their weapons ready for any advance. But we have to realise these are people, just as Peeta was; it is not their fault that their brains have been conditioned against everything they knew and believed. Then I remember, Marcus, before I can turn and see where Johanna is she is already at his door.

I am too scared to shout to her, what if a loud noise sets them all off, we would be overrun in a matter of seconds. I have to bite my lip and hope that Johanna is prepared for anything that may happen; she knows what Peeta was like so she should be more ready than anyone here. I watch as she opens the door and goes inside, without a care in the world. As she disappears from sight the young man who came out first lets out a monstrous scream and lunges at Sorna. They both fall to the ground.

That is the signal that many of us were waiting for and we start to edge ourselves backwards towards the entrance door. Sorna should be ok, he has a machete and although this hijacked man is in a fit of rage he shouldn't cause too much worry. Or that is what I thought.

As we near the door Sorna begins to wildly swing his weapon, he catches his attacker many times on the arm and blood begins to cover his clothing, but the young man doesn't stop and seems to bite Sorna on the face. Sorna lets out a cry of pain which prompts another of Blues followers to run over to help. It's too late. The attacker grabs Sorna's head and twists his neck so much it breaks. I have to cover my eyes as the sound of bones breaking almost makes me physically sick. Sorna lies there covered in the man's blood. But if things seemed to be bad it was about to get a lot worse.

The attacker seemingly unnerved by what he had just done, picks up Sorna's machete and begins to walk towards Blues friend who was on his way to help. The hijacked man now has blood pouring out from his arm which is dripping down to his hand holding the weapon and on to the white flooring.

Blues friend turns and begins to run back towards us. "We need to get out of here" Gale says rounding us all up with an arm gesture. We then find out why Joanus was so happy to allow us to get into his fortress. As we approach the door it slams shut. Gale pushes it and turns back to us. "It's locked" he says.

Johanna who couldn't have seen what had happened screams, and then runs out from the room. "It's no use, he tried to attack me" she says. As she runs over to us I watch as she glances over to Sorna's body and then the bloodied man walking towards us. Fergus puts his arms around her looks over to me and shrugs his shoulders; just as the rest of the crazed inmates of this tower begin to exit their rooms.

Like the first man they just stand there oblivious to where they are, but after a few seconds they too begin to let out deathly cries. I get my arrows ready. "Wait until they get closer people, we need to make sure every shot or swing counts" Gale calls out. Then my thoughts turn to Johanna, as I glance at her she is sobbing uncontrollably next to Fergus. "Try to keep Marcus alive, we have to try" I shout out.

Strangely as we await the onslaught some of the inmates begin to fight each other. They must have been conditioned to attack the first person they see, for us it was a twist in fate that it was each other. Some of them veer off towards us and I fire several arrows causing them to drop to their feet.

Our once tight nit group are now all fighting for their lives; knifes, swords, daggers, arrows are flying and bodies are falling onto the floor, in what was a bright white room its quickly becoming a dark red mess.

From the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of Marcus he is charging over towards the inmate with the machete. He grabs him by the legs and brings him crashing to the floor onto his face then begins to repeatedly punch him. I fire another arrow straight into the head of another attacker, a woman I notice hers eyes red, bloodshot to such extent that it looked as though they had been dyed. I am trying to keep my eyes on Marcus so that if he manages to get to us we can try and take him down without killing him, but he has disappeared.

The bodies on the floor are beginning to pile up but not without our losses, many of Blues people have also lost their lives. In all the confusion it's not clear how, but most of them have deep bites to their faces and necks. We are getting on top of it, just a few more of the inmates remain. I ready another arrow just as Marcus moves in front of me. "Marcus stop" Johanna calls out from behind me. It doesn't seem to make any difference as he is now walking quickly towards me with the machete. For the first time since all the troubles began I don't know what to do. I can't kill him; I have to give him a chance like everyone did with Peeta. I shout to him the only thing I can think of. "Marcus, you have been captured by Precia, you're from district 7, Johanna is here and she loves you". He stops walking and stands completely still. He is now the last remaining inmate; the rest have been put to rest from their nightmares.

Johanna stands next to me. "Marcus, I love you, we can get out of this" she pleads to him. It seems this actually penetrated his mind as he relaxes his posture allowing the machete to swing in his hand. He turns away and starts to walk back towards his room. "If we are going to rescue him, it's now or never" Gale says. I walk with Gale and Johanna following Marcus, he doesn't notice us behind him but we can hear him talking to himself. "Panem is the enemy, District 7 is my home, Johanna— Johanna?" he stops walking once more. "Panem is Katniss, Katniss is the enemy, Panem is the enemy, District 7 is the enemy" he turns round and runs towards us. The machete begins to rise above his head.

I put my hands up to try and get him to stop but it's too late he swings the machete and its heading straight for me. I feel an almost burning sensation on my left arm as I fall to the floor, my face bangs down into a pool of blood and everything begins to blur. I can just make out Johanna jumping in front of me and stabbing Marcus. His body comes down and lies beside me, his eyes frozen in place.

I am expecting terrible pain to begin to rush through my body, my breath to become shallow, my heart to slow down, but it doesn't happen. Johanna leans over me and lifts my head "Katniss, get up!" I don't understand why do I feel ok; is this suit I am wearing that good that it can stop direct attacks with swords.

Peeta lifts me up so that I am sitting; I put my hand up to my arm and move it into my blurred view. Its covered in blood, throbbing and almost feels like someone has poured boiling water on it then as my vision begins to focus I see Gale lying on the floor with Fergus and Blue trying to resuscitate him.


	17. Chapter 17

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 14

**Chaper 17**

I push myself up and stumble over to them. I look at his eyes, they are closed I wait for some form of movement, a blink, a twitch, nothing. Blue gets up and lightly taps me on my shoulder and walks away. Then I hear him, "Finally" he says barley able to breathe enough to form his lips. He is beginning to lose the colour in his face, "Gale, don't, please don't". Before I can say anymore I see his chest rise up. "Finally, after all this time I have been able to save you" his chest lowers and his lips close, there is no movement, no breathing. I stare at him knowing that I will never see him again, I can't hear anything it's as though every noise in the world had been silenced.

"I am so sorry Katniss" my head switches to look at Johanna; she is bending over me causing a shadow to blot out some of the bright lighting. Then I notice Fergus move away from Gale. "There's nothing we can do; the blade went under his vest into his lungs" Fergus says wiping blood off his hands on to his suit.

"Gale?" I whisper, he looks peaceful. He was always the peaceful one, when we sat in the field outside 12, when he was stood with Prim on his back, when I waited by his side, when we got him from the whipping post. He loved me but I couldn't love him back, he was always peaceful until I became the Mockingjay. But now as I lean over his lifeless body I miss him more than ever. I put my hand on his forehead; it's already beginning to go cold. The tears are now falling down off my face on to him; I go closer and kiss his cheek. "I am sorry Gale, sorry for everything, we should have run away into the forest when you said, it's all my fault".

"He saved you, he saved your life Katniss" Peeta says sitting next to me. I look up at Peeta and gaze into his eyes. "He jumped in front of you, it was so quick" he adds wiping away my tears. I can sense hurt in Peeta's voice, he knew that Gale had feelings for me but he wouldn't ever show it. Peeta was as sad as I was. "He was like the brother I never had, there was so many times in the Capitol he could have killed me, but he rose above his pride" he said. I reach up to him and hug him the hardest I have ever done.

As Peeta and I sit there in each other's arms the floor begins to shake and the sound of explosions close by, yet again I am forced to forget about the loss of someone I care about. I am expecting the sound of Gale's voice to rally us once more to continue on. I was asked to lead this group and although every objective was relayed through me first, it was Gale who was the brains behind how we would do it. "Sounds as though either they are attacking or being attacked" Fergus says.

I push Peeta's arms away and get to my feet. "We are going to end this now" I say in an almost possessed voice. I look over between the cells where the hijacked came from and there is one single black door. I begin walking towards it, the others take the motion and quickly pick up what they had and move in behind me.

I reach the door and push the handle, it opens with no effort at all. What if this was our way out all along, could we have just ran through here, Gale might still be alive. As I walk through the doorway there is a dark room with what looks to be an elevator with a stairwell running next to it. "Any chance the elevator will give us a break here?" Gauis jokes as he presses the call button.

As if scripted another explosion rattles the metal and shakes the walls around us. Dust begins to fall down from the roof, we here a painful screeching sound from the elevator shaft and before our eyes it comes crashing down with so much force that it shatters the glass in the doors pushing us all back.

"Everyone ok?" I say wiping off the shards of glass from my suit. "Yeah we good" Peeta says helping Johanna to her feet. "Guess it's the stairs then" Gauis says putting his foot on the bottom step. "Katniss, I'll lead, you follow behind me, give you some time— you know?" Although I am slightly taken aback by him attempting to take over control, I am pleased someone is willing to step forward. If anything it will give me chance to speak with Johanna who must be as torn up as I am.

We go up two flights of steps with no resistance, in the distance we can hear gunfire and the explosions are getting more and more frequent. We are just about to start on the next flight of steps when a jet can be heard flying towards the building then the unmistakable sound of Gatling gun fire. There are very few windows in the stairwell and those are very small letting in just enough light to see that it is daylight outside. The sound of smashing glass upstairs as the jet flies past and very faint screams echo down towards us.

"They are attacking the tower; the question is who?" Peeta says. We climb another three flights past many doors with darkened rooms through them. As we turn at the base of the stairs we notice a man slumped down against the wall with a thin line of blood coming from his mouth and several bullet holes in his chest. "That's not hovercraft fire that's hand gun fire" Gauis says leaning over the body. "No weapons on him though" he adds. He must have been someone who Joanus had working for him, perhaps a doctor or technician of some kind, not a fighter or a soldier. "Sometimes killing isn't personal" I say to Gauis as he turns back to me.

"Katniss?" I turn and see Johanna standing there. She looks terrible in some respects worse than when she came back from the tribute centre, now rather than being underweight, bald and mentally sick, she looks empty, lost as if she had no idea why she was here. "Johanna, we can talk once we get out of here, I am sorry about Marcus but I don't want anyone else to die here". She reluctantly nods her head before continuing to walk avoiding eye contact as she passes me.

After several more floors we reach a door at the top which is locked. "Strange, we are nowhere near the top yet, why a door here" Fergus says. "Perhaps they couldn't build straight up and have another set of stairs through here" Blue says. I had almost forgotten she was with us, her people were obviously not keen on the idea of storming the tower after what they had gone through, not only did we lose Gale and Marcus, we lost many of her group as well. "Going to need your help on this one Peeta" Gauis says stepping back. "You know with those mechanical legs of yours" he adds.

The both of them in unison begin to run towards the door when suddenly a bright light fills the room, followed by a deafening explosion. I am knocked back and fall down a few steps before coming to a halt lying face down. I put my hands up to my face checking that everything was still there, my ears are ringing so much that I have to put my fingers in to stop the pain of the noise. The dust begins to settle and as I look up I see some of the others getting to their feet. There standing in the now missing doorway is Stipar holding the weapon bags.

I rush to my feet almost slipping up the stairs; I am struggling to hear what he is saying as I reach him. "Katniss, you ok? Everyone here?" he says. It takes a few moments for the sound to begin to clear in my ears. I quickly check the rest of the group for injuries, as I look round I can see everyone checking themselves and then each other.

"Stipar, we thought you was dead, what happened" I say. "Long story, let's just say Peeta's little toy got me locked out but it also took down the guards and their communications. I was able to get round the side of the base. That's when Cressida picked me up. She's just dropped me off on a bay on this floor outside." He begins to walk past me to an area out of the way of the doorway. On cue the rest of the group form a circle around me, Peeta by my side.

"Katniss, there's a war going on, it's really bad. Precia sent hundreds of former district citizens back and they began killing people" he shouts. "They were hijacking people here, conditioning them to kill their own people. This whole place is an arena to train people to kill people they know" I reply.

"What about 13; are my children ok" I say. Stipar looks down and I immediately get the horrible feeling of dread. "I don't know Katniss, Cressida says there have been attacks on 13, that was a few days ago. They knew where to strike to cause the most damage, the most confusion. Paylor ordered troops from the districts to fight against Precia. She thinks if we can kill Joanus now it could stop the fighting quicker" he replies.

"If Paylor is still communicating with Cressida then 13 must be ok, our children are low down, they must be ok right?" Peeta says almost trying to convince himself.

"We lost communications with 13 yesterday, perhaps they hit the telecoms, I don't know. Look I am here to help you get this done and get you back as quickly as possible" he says opening one of the bags and picking up a rifle. "Come on people grab something that you think you can use, no time for any training, if someone moves and it's not one of us point it at them and pull the trigger" Stipar shouts.

As he is handing out the weapons I notice him stop and look around "Where's Gale" he says looking at me. "We lost him entering the building, the hijacked got him" I say as bravely as possible. He notices my change in voice and slowly and subtlety nods as if that was all he needed to hear.

"How far do we have to go, any information on what this place is" I say pulling out the multi-coloured arrows from the bag. "Oh yes I nearly forgot" he says handing me a holo. "It appears you lost your other one as it was giving out a distress signal" He presses a button on the display "Stipar deactivate, transfer primary security clearance" he hands me the holo "Katniss Everdeen" I say. The display lights up, beeps to confirm its new owner.

The first thought that comes in to my mind is to see if the others are still alive. I press the map it zooms in and I notice the three dots together. I focus on them to see any small movements and then I watch as one of them moves the smallest of distances from the others. "They could be alive" I say happily. "What the other three are alive" Peeta shouts over.

I zoom out of the map and it becomes clear. "There in this tower, up 14 floors" I say hardly believing it myself.

"There here? How did they get here before us?" Gauis says confused. It doesn't matter how they got here the good thing is they could all be alive and they are only a few minutes away.

I switch off the holo, clip it back on to my belt and confidently walk past the others through the doorway. To my right is a huge blast hole where Stipar obviously came through. I can see the ledge where he was set down by Cressida's hovercraft and to the left is another door leading into a very large room. "We might come across guards make sure your weapons are ready" I say as I slowly push open the door.

It looks like some form of communications room, there are banks of equipment, all switched off. Despite the random explosions and gun fire outside, the room is relatively quiet. It seems to have survived any artillery and the people that worked here must have left far before any of the battles started.

We all walk slowly down the length of the room constantly checking each desk, each seat and under each table. As we approach the door at the end of the room the sound of some form of heavy object is heard from a desk right in the far corner. "Wait, I'll go" Fergus says putting his hand out to stop my advance. He edges closer and closer to the desk. He reaches the one where the sound came from and pushes the chair away with his foot, before bending down with his rifle pointing directly under the table. He just stands there for a few moments, long enough for me to become worried.

I begin to run towards Fergus, he raises his hand to stop me but it's too late I have already reached his side.

I look down under the table, I see a young girl around 16 years old dressed all in white, she has dark streaks running down from her eyes as though she had been crying for a long time.

She looks up at me "I'm sorry, go, please go now" I then notice a small black object next to her on the floor. It has a clock on it and it's counting down, counting down from 10 seconds.

"Move!" Stipar says pushing me back, we both turn and run, the others although they had not seen what we were running from didn't need any further explaining and began to run towards the door.

It was like the entire room had its air sucked out from it in a single blink of an eye, all the windows blew out as every single piece of equipment exploded in a raging ball of fire. I could feel the heat so much it felt that my skin was falling away from my face. Running to the door I saw the last two remaining members of Blues group fall down to the left of me, as burning plastic and metal covered them cementing them in place.

Peeta dived forward throwing himself through the door, it flung open and within seconds the rest of us were hurling ourselves through it not knowing what or even who was on the other side. The floor began to physically move left to right as further blasts rippled through the already engulfed room. Blue let out an almighty scream as she lay rolling on the floor to my right. I began to claw my way across the floor, thick black smoke forming like a veil above us.

As I get closer to her it becomes too real why she is in so much pain, a piece of metal the size of a plate is sticking out from her side and into her arm.

Stipar crawls over to her and holds her head. "We need a medic, quick" he shouts to me. "Frostine, she's a doctor, if we can reach her?" I reply. "Gauis help me lift her, we need to get her off this floor" he says. I look around trying to find the way out and notice just a few meters away the smoke is being sucked out. "Over there, a door" I shout.

Stipar and Gauis cover their mouths with the jackets and lift Blue up, the sound of crackling wood and plastic is loud enough to drown out the harrowing screams from her as her unbearable pain causes her to pass out. Johanna opens the door and the smoke begins to rush forward into the new clear area. "Everyone get through and get this door closed" Fergus calls outs. It doesn't take us long to react and within seconds we are all through standing at the bottom of the stairs, the door slams shut.

It is like we are moving in and out of different buildings, like before the stairwell is unaffected by the flames from the adjacent room. Gauis and Stipar lay Blue down on to the cool floor, she isn't moving but is still breathing.

"She needs help; she's losing too much blood" Stipar says. "The others are just a few floors up, if we can reach them maybe Frostine can help her" I reply. "Hope so, this would be a terrible way to die" Gauis replies.

We begin the climb once more; the stairs are beginning to tire everyone to the point where each step feels like we are climbing a mountain. After another few floors we come across a door which seems to display a medical area. The sign on the door has a toxic symbol but next to it a green cross.

"There might be something in there that could help her" Peeta says. "Does that symbol remind you of anything Fergus?" I say peering through the small window in the door.

"Yes, it's similar to the one in the tribute centre, you know when they converted it into a testing facility. I am not sure this is a good idea, we don't know what's in there and I am not sure we are ready or strong enough to deal with it" he replies.

"We have to, Blue and her friends helped me reach this place, she has no one left but us now, we have to try and get her out". I reply pushing the door ajar. Peeta moves next to me and whispers in my ear "Katniss, we are with you, you are stronger than all of us put together, if you think it's right we will do it".

With that I push the door open with force and brace myself for what could be on the other side, but despite my worries the room is silent, no buzzing fans, no beeps no one.

As we walk into the room what Fergus had says becomes vividly true, there are hundreds of test tubes with strange looking creatures inside. I look into one of them, it looks like some form of dog, there are tubes coming in and out of its malformed body. It looks lifeless but as I look closer I can see its heart beating through its almost transparent skin. "What are they doing here" I say.

"Mutts" Fergus says abruptly; he has everyone's attention in the room. "In the capitol they were developing mutts for the games. They wanted stronger, faster and more deadly creatures. They merge cells and bones of different animals, taking the best from each one, this must be a new breed.

"Have a look around see if there are any medicines or ointments in here" I say to the rest of the group trying to blank what's in here.

As Fergus describes the many deadly abnormal mutts from the past, the rest of the room begins to open out as though my eyes were blurring out what it didn't want to see. Every test tube had some different kind of animal in it. Then as I am just about to turn away I see a small one right at the back of the room, although this one wasn't filled with water and had no tubes inside it. This one has hundreds of Culakflies flying around in it. I edge my way over to it concerned that what was harming so many of the districts people were here in the same room as us. Next to the container there was one single tube running to an electrical device which has some form of liquid being pumped. "That's the poison that Joanus was using then" Fergus says looking over my shoulder. It's something I have never seen before, they were conditioning, hijacking them without the need to have people administering it.

"So they now have a drug to turn people against their own without torture, without fear conditioning, just like taking a pill or an injection" I reply. "There was always mention of a special weapon, it looks like Joanus managed to take it one step further" he adds. "They don't want citizens they want people to do as they say, that isn't a dictatorship its slavery" I am beginning to feel myself building with anger; I pick up a chair next to the desk and slam it down into the machine. It begins to spark and then a small flame appears inside. "Don't think that was a good idea Katniss" Fergus says waving the others.

"Has anyone found anything of use?" I shout out as we exit the room. "Just some bandages and some kind of ointment Johanna says passing it to Peeta. "I had enough of seeing those tubes in the Capitol so I left you guys to your little biology lesson" she adds.

I check my holo once again, we are just 2 floors away from the others, the blips on the screen haven't moved and I am beginning to be worried the two if not all of them are dead. I find energy from somewhere and begin running up the stairs, the others audibly moaning and panting as they struggle to keep up.

As we reach the door for the room the holo is indicating that Frostine, Tenney and Helsa are. I notice this one has no window, in fact there's no handle to open it. "Can you get this open" I say looking back down the stairs to Fergus. Coughing he reaches me and begins looking around. "I can't see a security panel, it must only open from the other side" he says having managed to catch his breath.

Stipar walks forward and opens his bag; he removes a small pack of explosives and begins tying an ignition coil to it. "We are going to have to stand back, get down the stairs people" he says pulling out the coil and attaching some form of detonator device to it. We all move back down the stairs and he presses a button on the end of the coil. I have already put my hands over my ears waiting in the attempt to block out the explosion, but nothing happens. "Wait here" Stipar says putting down the detonator. "What, what are you doing" I say as he disappears out of view above us.

After a few moments he shouts down. "There's a fault on the connection, trust 13 to give us equipment that doesn't work properly. You're going to have to press the button while I hold it. Give me a countdown from 3, I will throw it when you reach 0. You understand" he shouts.

"Ok, 3—2—1—" as I reach zero I see Stipar diving towards the stairs, so much so that he begins to fall down the steps towards us. Then in a flash of white light the explosion shakes the walls of the stairwell followed by electric sparks and smoke". Bits of metal and concrete rain down on us as we cover our heads.

Once the smoke has cleared we get back to our feet and move up the stairs, the door has been smashed open. Some of it remains but there is a big enough hole for us to get through.

Peeta is the first through it followed by Johanna, before I managed to reach the door Peeta puts his head through back the hole, he looks terrified.


	18. Chapter 18

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 16

**Chaper 18**

I almost want to cover my eyes as I step through the hole in the door, as it becomes obvious what's happened to the others, I wished I had done.

On one side of the room Tenney and Helsa are chained up to the wall standing up; there are cables and pipes going into their arms. Frostine is in a glass room similar to the ones the hijacked were in downstairs. "Frostine can you hear me, are you ok" I say putting my face up to the glass walls.

She walks over to me with tears in her eyes "I'm good Katniss, you?" she almost sounds like she is being pedantic. "They have been on that wall for hours; they have been pumping Culakfly poison in them. They did nothing to me, just put me in this cell and made me watch" she adds in a heartbroken voice.

My eyes are already looking for a lock on the cell but there doesn't seem to be a door. "There's a panel here give me a few moments" Fergus says as he sits down at the keyboard.

I walk over to Tenney and Helsa, their heads drooping to one side, they're faces sapped of colour. "Can we take these out of them" I say turning around to the others. Peeta looks at the tubes and almost instantly pulls them out of their arms. "I remember these tubes, I remember them putting them in and out of my arms everyday" he says turning away.

"Why would they do this to Tenney and Helsa but leave Frostine, it doesn't make sense" I say as my eyes look around the room. Gauis moves in front of them. "It's a game Katniss, Joanus is acting like his father, he left Frostine as she was the only one who could help them. Torturing her by torturing them. He knew she would try to escape probably killing herself in the process, he's one very sick man".

"Errrr Katniss, you want to see this" Johanna says from across the room. She is beginning to sound better, perhaps she is becoming like me, numb from all the pain. She is stood looking at sheets of paper on a desk. As I look over them a lump in my throat forms.

On the table in front of me are sheets and sheets of maps of Panem, all with different areas marked out in red. One thing that is apparent on them all is there are huge walls around the districts most likely to keep its inhabitants in. Inside every district was a dome with the words "Arena" written over them. "He was planning on taking over Panem and having Games in every district, stopping the people from being able to move, imprisoned" I say reading more of the writing.

"Was?" Johanna says almost laughing. I raise my head up staring into nothing "I am going to make sure he has a place next to his father" I reply.

A loud click comes from the cell with Frostine in. "Got it!" Fergus says calmly with a hint of regret in his tone. Frostine pushes a small opening on the side of the cell and climbs through it; she looks very weak and struggles to walk. "Here take some water" Peeta says handing her a flask. "Thank you, can't remember when I last drank anything" she says. I turn to Fergus wondering why he seemed so unhappy.

"When we got separated it took us a day to get out of the rocks. Without you guys we didn't know where to go, we came across a group of people near the edge of the river but they didn't want us hanging around. They just gave us some food and told us to leave. We found a building which we thought we could hide out in, you know until you all found us, but the guards captured us and took us underground. We have been in here for what seems like days. Not very brave of us eh— Hiding?" Frostine explains.

"You did what you could to survive, I lost the holo in the river and we thought you were all dead" I say putting my arm around her.

"Do you feel up to seeing someone who is injured" I say. She looks at me and nods her head. "That's probably the only thing I can do" she says wiping away some water from her mouth. "You all wait here, Peeta come with me, we are going to see if we can help Blue" I say helping Frostine towards the door.

We move back down the stairs to where Blue is, she is still lying on the wall where we left her, but she has come round and has her eyes open. "I didn't expect you to come back for me, you should be out of this place by now. It's no way for a leader to behave" Blue says laughing. Frostine moves in to look at the wound and they both suddenly stop and look at each other. "You, the one from the river, how did you get in here" Blue says. "We got captured, thank you for the food" Frostine replies. "Ha good job I sent you packing otherwise you wouldn't be here to help me" Blue adds.

"Going to need a knife, bandages and something to stitch her up, it's not serious but we need to seal the wound" Frostine says turning to me. "Wait, what, seal the wound, that doesn't sound like something I am going to like" Blue replies.

"Stay with her I will see what I can find up stairs, we already have bandages and Gauis has a knife" I say heading back up the stairs.

I enter the room where the others are and notice Tenney and Helsa lying on the floor. "What's happened, are they ok" I say looking around.

"It doesn't look good" Johanna says. "Snow had me on that stuff everyday but not like this, if they have been hooked up to that thing for hours they might never wake up from it. Looks like with what's going on outside and in Panem people just left them here to die" she adds.

"Frostine needs a needle and thread or something, to fix Blues wound up" I say. "Here, there's something in this drawer" Fergus says handing me what looks like cat gut and a strange hook type object. "It has a hole in one end, can't imagine what they used it for in here" he adds. I take it back down to Frostine and she begins to clean Blue's wounds.

"Will this help, don't know what it is but it was in a kind of medical area" Peeta says handing Frostine the ointment. "Wow, with all the chemicals and poisons in this place, I am surprised they have morphling here, good find" she says grinning. After a few minutes Frostine has removed the metal and cleaned up the wound. "Now this isn't going to be fun" she says putting a lighter up to the knife. Blue looks very worried about what is going to happen, as if she already knows. "Here bite down on this" Frostine says giving her a rolled piece of cloth. I can't bear to look as Frostine places the hot knife over the wound, the smell of burning skin begins to fill the room. It's over as quickly as it began though and Blue was as brave as she could be under the circumstances. Frostine uses the hook and stitches the now almost minor cut and puts the ointment over the top. "You good to go, just no jumping for a while ok" she says helping Blue to her feet.

"Yes Doc" she says shaking Frostine's hand. "Thank you" she whispers to her and smiles.

Back upstairs the others are all sitting as we enter the room once more, Tenney and Helsa still lying on the floor. Frostine goes over to them and checks a few things before declaring that there is no way that they can be moved in this condition, especially as they might wake up hijacked at any point. "We will get to the top of this place and call Cressida, we can take them once it's safe" I say to the group.

Heading back out to the stairwell Peeta grabs my hand. "How many more floors do you think" he says. "Not sure but from the outside can't be more than fifteen maybe twenty more" I reply. As we reach the next floor we can hear talking in the room next to us. It's hard to make out what is exactly being said, but it seems that they are talking about what's happening in Panem. Their voices are joyful and it begins to make me anxious that they could actually be winning the war; we might get back to rubble. Fergus puts his finger to his mouth in an attempt to make us all quiet.

Just as we begin to starting climbing the steps again we hear a clunk on the door below us. I quickly pull out an arrow from my quiver and point it towards the door. This prompts the others to ready their weapons and we all stand there like statues waiting for the door to open. A hand appears on the door and it slowly moves open, a man dressed in black military type suit comes out and begins to walk down the stairs. He descends a couple of steps before stopping. Everything is silent, so much so I can hear Peeta breathing next to me. The man begins to move his hand down to his pocket, I pull my arrow back ready to fire but notice Peeta shaking his head out the corner of my eye.

The man puts his hand into his pocket and pulls out a small electronic device, before anyone can respond he presses a button and an alarm begins to sound throughout the building. I let my fingers go and the arrow hits him right in the middle of the back he falls face first down the stairs. It's too late though, now we are inside Joanus' building and everyone knows we are here. Peeta grabs my arm and pulls me away up the stairs. The rest of the group reach the next floor when a door flies open and more military spill out into the stairwell like ants from a nest.

Gauis and Stipar are the first to open fire and the sound of bullets being exchanged makes the once silent building a full on battle. "We are sitting ducks here" Johanna screams throwing a knife into one of the men's chests. "She's right we need to move into that room" Stipar replies screaming at the top of his voice. Gauis downs two further men before kicking one square in the chest through the door and pushes his way in. We all pile in afterwards, but we are not escaping we are charging into a room full of people who want us dead.

Its mayhem as bullets, explosions and flashes of light begin to fill the room. Peeta kicks over a metal table for us to use as a form of barrier and we take turns to fire over the top.

As I peer over the top of the bullet ridden table I can see more and more military coming through a door at the back of the room, then I remember Beetee. I press my arrow release and pull out one before firing it at the roof. Almost like a lightning strike it hits the ceiling before bursting into a smoke bomb. As the smoke begins to fill the room it triggers the water sprinklers in the ceiling causing the whole room to look like one of the worst storms possible. I look over the table once more, it's hard to see anything with all the smoke and mist created by the water, but coming towards me almost like a nightmare is a man with a rocket launcher over his shoulder. I recognise his face; it's one of them men from 12 with Celestia.

Instinctively I try and remember what Beetee had said to me when he gave me the arrows, I press the white button on my pad and up pops an arrow. "Everyone get out now" I shout to the group. Peeta gives me a stern look as if he knew what I was going to do. He reluctantly crawls with the rest of them as I ready the arrow. The man is less than 20 feet away from me and I can see his finger move to the firing button; I let go of the arrow, it almost hits the same spot as the smoke bomb only this time the result is far different.

A sheet of blue light emanates from the ceiling; it reacts with the water and bolts of electricity dance across the room through the mist. The man with the rocket launcher drops to his knees and falls backwards shaking and screaming in agony. I had done what Beetee did in his games and what he tried to do in the Quarter Quell. I have turned the whole room into an electrical magnet. I quickly duck and run out of the room as the crying and moaning sounds become louder and louder. Everyone is standing looking at me, I can feel their eyes burning into my face, as though they were trying to work out whether I had become a beast myself. Johanna is different though she is almost smiling at what I had just done. "Go!" I shout, "There may be more coming, we need to reach Joanus' room and get out of here" I add.

The next flights of stairs seem to pass us by very quickly, I wasn't pleased with what I had done and I wanted to get away from it as quickly as I could. There were no more military but the one thought in the back of my mind, what about Tenney and Helsa, we have left them there and it almost certain that Joanus would have more people coming.

We reach the top floor and see a sign above a door "_Head of communications and Security - Strictly no unauthorised admittance_". This must be where Joanus is. "Stipar, can you blow that door through?" I say. "Sure Katniss" he says moving up to the doorframe. He stands there for a few moments and turns round confusingly. "What's wrong, can't you do it" I say hoping that this wasn't the case. "No, I can blow it open no problem, but we don't need to" he replies. I look at him as he pushes it open with one finger. Joanus must be waiting for us on the other side.

I walk up to Stipar and look round to the others; they are all waiting for my next move, my next speech. I have no more breath left for asking people to die for me, I look at Peeta he is softly smiling at me. "Go ahead Katniss, let's get this done" he says. I take one more look at the others, "Blue, you hang back, you're not well enough for this. The rest of you keep close, let's get out of here and get home".

I turn back to the door, take a deep breath and kick it open with my foot. The door swings open and hits the wall on the other side, once again we are entering a room in complete darkness, this could be a final masterstroke from Joanus. To make us go through all the trials he set in the arena, to send us up through hijacked people and thousands of steps, for us to lose so many friends on the way. We lost Gale, we really did lose Gale. To lead us into the one place we needed to get to. only to set a trap right at the end.

I am not sure what I was expecting, perhaps an explosion, bullets raining down from the ceiling, maybe even the whole building collapsing to a pile of rubble taking us all with it, but no, everything is quiet. Peeta walks over to one of the walls in an attempt to find a light switch; the others edge themselves in to the room behind us.

I can make out tables and chairs, like the room filled with screens, but there is a big space which disappears into the darkness. "Are you ready, I have found the switch?" Peeta whispers. "Yes, go ahead" I say trying to squint to make out his face. The lights come on and the room opens out in front of us. Right at the bottom is a large wooden table; almost a carbon copy of the one from Snow's mansion back in the Capitol but there is no Joanus. I begin to walk over my eyes beginning to fully adjust to the lighting. It couldn't be could it?

There almost obscured by the table in front of her is Celestia, I should be angry, I should be screaming at her but I can't. She is dressed all in white with her hair braided to one side, like how I used to wear it in the games. Her face looks distraught, frightened. As I move closer I can see she has been crying, her eyes are so reddened that it must have been for some time.

We both stand looking at each other; it almost feels like we are the only two people in the building. The others are blocked out by my focus on the little girl who started all this off. I am just about to ask her where her father is when she begins to sob. "He left me" she cries, "He actually left me". I walk round to the side of her and notice something, something far worse than what Joanus' father could ever dream up. She has been cuffed to the chair, preventing her moving, preventing her from escaping, even preventing her from wiping her own tears.

"Where is your father Celestia? What has happened" I say trying to be as authoritative as I can; despite her being the daughter of a man who would do anything to take Panem. She is still a little girl, almost the same age as Prim would be now.

"What time is it?" She murmurs from beneath her horse voice. "It's 7pm, where is he?" I reply. "Could you take these chains off me please, they are hurting my wrists" Celestia says.

Stipar walks up to her and looks around her chair, he then bends down to look under the table "Doesn't seem to be anything connected to her, well nothing obvious anyway" he says. "Celestia, do you have anything we should know about before we take the cuffs off you, we can leave you here you know?" I say bending down to her.

"Katniss, I am so sorry, my father, he just left me here, got his guards to chain me up and left me" she says. It seems that she isn't thinking straight and she would have probably told us of anything dangerous around her. "Peeta could you get these off her" I say lifting the chains up. Peeta begins to walk over when Blue stops him in his path. "You sure about this?" she says looking over to me. "She's scared, who knows how long she has been here" I reply. Blue takes a step back and puts her hand in her pocket. She pulls out what look like clippers and hands them to Peeta, I begin wondering how on earth she managed to come across those, but stop myself from asking, that would only slow us down more.

The cuffs come off easily and Celestia quickly rubs her wrists and arms before wiping her cheeks.

I am beginning to get a little frustrated so I bluntly ask; "Where is your father Celesta, we need to know now" When my father was alive and I used to get into trouble at the Seam the peacekeepers always used to call him in rather than my mother. Sometimes he had to come all the way up from the mines, he was the only one who could get a straight answer from me. He knew how to ask the questions to get me to tell the truth, "_What happened to the herbs, tell me now Katniss_", "_What was you doing so near to the fence Katniss_"; just thinking about it sends shivers down my back.

"He's gone to Panem, Katniss, he didn't say where just he had a job to finish, I am really sorry Katniss, I didn't—". Before she had time to finish her sentence I am already trying to work out how to get off this building. "Stipar, how far is Cressida, is she on hold to get us out of here" I call out across the room. "Affirmative Katniss, you just need to make the call" he says pointing towards the holo on my belt.

Lifting it up and switching it on I look back at Celestia, "If you have anything you need get it now" I say. She gets up out of her chair and rushes over to a cabinet on the far wall. Peeta walks over to me and looks at me confused. "She's coming with us; she can be our bargaining tool if it comes to it" I say pressing the buttons to connect to District 13. Peeta looks at me almost horrified at what I had just said. The thought I would use a child as a bargaining tool.

Celestia returns and stands next to me, all she has in her hands is a small worn teddy bear. "District 13, this is Katniss can you hear me?" I say. Initially there is no sound at all coming from the holo, but then a small hissing sound before it begins to crackle. "Katniss, is that you?" I can't make out who is speaking. "Yes its Katniss, we need an evac from the Precia Centre Tower immediately" I reply.

"Katniss, I can't believe it your alive, you made it". This time the voice is clearer and I can make out its Haymitch. "Hold on give me a moment" he says before the line begins to crackle again.

Just then the sound of feet rushing up stairs can be heard at the far end of the room, it almost sounds like thunder and it is getting closer and louder by the second. "Ermm Katniss, I think we need to move and quickly" Shouts Gauis. The group begin to run towards the door behind the desk and pushes it open. A few of them begin to disappear, Peeta looks at me and Celestia and rushes to the door before turning back "It's a flight of stairs up to the roof Katniss let's go!"

"Katniss, this is Beetee, Cressida is on her way now ETA 5 minutes, we will update you on the situation when your airborne". As he finishes his sentence I can make out the sound of an explosion in the background, its feint but enough for me to be worried "Beetee, what was that are my children ok?" I reply but there is no answer.

I begin walking towards the door the others went through when I feel a small hand push my fingers open, I look down and Celestia is looking up at me beginning to smile. With her other hand already taken by her bear I take her hand and begin to quickly lead her out of the room. I feel a tug on my shoulder which causes me to lose my balance a little, I turn round. "Someone needs to hold the guards off" Blue says lifting her rifle up. "No Blue, we can all get off, we can all leave this place" I reply.

"Katniss, you know full well that if those guards, the ones who are probably about to come through that door now, get to the roof of this place none of us are getting off it" she says.

She looks at me almost knowing that this will be her final moments alive. I look down at my holo and press the transfer command button. "Katniss Everdeen stepping down from command authorising holo use to" I hand the holo to Blue "Bethalue Taylor" she says.

"If anything happens and you can't make it, press this button and say nightlock three times, it will detonate immediately, just don't do it if you have any way of escaping, promise me" I say. She nods her head before turning and pointing her rifle at the door. "Go finish this Katniss, go find your children" she shouts as we walk through the door up the stairs.

On the roof the others are waiting, all of them have their weapons ready. I grab my bow and ready an arrow. "Celestia, go sit over there, do not come over until we say, ok?" She doesn't reply but does what I asked straight away, as if she knows that we are the only ones who can help her now.

I gaze out over the roof of the arena and then all around the city. It's extremely windy up here, so much so that it is hard to stand, but there in the distance the familiar shape of a hovercraft begins to come towards us. As it gets closer it begins to fire flares out of its sides, a missile shoots up into the sky and circles around before exploding on to one of the balls of fire created by the flare. The hovercraft banks aggressively before coming down and landing almost perfectly on the top of the roof.

"Celestia, quickly" I shout. The others are already boarding the back of the hovercraft as Celestia runs over, then half way across she stops still and turns back.

What is she doing, is this part of a plan to stop us escaping? Then it all becomes clear, she had forgotten that scrawny bear she was holding on to; she bends down and picks it up and runs back over. "Really!? You risked everyone's life for a toy bear?" I say. "It was given to me by my mother the same day you won the games with Peeta, it hasn't left my side since" she says hugging it. I roll my eyes and push Celestia up the ramp to the seats inside. The engines begin to roar and we lift up quickly into the sky.

I look out of the small round window in the side of the hovercraft at the tower, wondering what is happening to Blue when it becomes vividly clear. As we move just a few hundred feet away from the side, a blinding light flashes from inside the top floor then all of the windows blown out as balls of fire fly out. Inside the hovercraft all I can hear is the jets keeping us in the air and I watch as the tower begins to fall down almost like a tree that has been cut down.

We both knew that she would be sacrificing her own life to save the rest of us, she was someone who I could have got along with for the rest of my life but will now never have the chance, defiant, aggressive, single minded, so much like me in so many ways.


	19. Chapter 19

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 12

**Chaper 19**

We have been in the air for half an hour leaving the city of Precia behind, the smoke still bellowing up from what once was Joanus' command building. The spine of the area which forced people of Panem train to fight against themselves.

I can see out of the corner of my eye Johanna trying to catch my attention but as I am not taking up her offer for what would be a painful chat she looks away. Everyone in the hovercraft is physically and mentally drained, we lost so many people, not only fighting the arena but also trying to get to our objective. The cruel mind of Joanus was there for all of us to see; trapping innocent people and filling them with hijacking drugs, keeping them locked up in glass cells with only a blinding white light for something to console with.

The door at the front of the hovercraft opens and Cressida makes her way towards me grabbing on to the walls and rails along the ceiling to stop her from falling with the swaying of the aircraft. She stands before me but I am too distraught to raise my head. She moves round and sits down beside me on a piece of railing separating my chair from Peeta's.

"I am guessing you want some answers, about what is happening?" she says. I slowly move my head to see hers. She is definitely showing the signs of war, she looks the most fragile I have seen her, but I don't imagine she would have thought she would be in the skies with missiles exploding next to her, when she took on the role of reconnaissance for 13.

"Are my children safe", the question prompts Peeta to stand up and move round. He sits down in front of me on the floor patiently waiting for Cressida's response.

"They're ok, 13 took a lot of strikes and most of the surface buildings have been completely destroyed." She begins to pause as if trying to tactfully formulate a sentence before speaking. "Look, I am not going to lie to you, your mother, the entrance to the fortress was destroyed whilst she was attending the injured from the first bombings. She was rescued but she is in a very bad way" she says.

My heart has given up, nothing I hear now would surprise me and without thinking I open my mouth. "How serious, is she going to die" I say. Cressida turns and looks at Peeta as if she thought I wasn't thinking right, thinking about the consequences of what she had explained. "Is she?" Peeta asks in a less confrontational manor.

"I don't know, from what I gather she is in a very bad way, she lost a lot of blood from wounds on her head and has burns to her chest, back and legs. She was unconscious for days and has been drifting in and out for the last week" she says.

Cressida slides herself to the floor next to Peeta and looks up "Katniss, your children are in the base of 13, Beetee and Paylor created some form of escape passage when she took over from Coin, it was one of the first things she ordered. Must have had something to do with what happened in the Nut" she adds. "Is it that bad, that bad that they may need to escape in to the open, where they can be taken or even worse" I say.

"What we had to deal with when the uprising was taking place doesn't compare to this, this is total war" she replies. "I thought 13 was safe, impenetrable?" Unintentionally my head begins to rise up so that the eye contact with Cressida is lost. Perhaps my mind was right all along 13 wasn't safe it was an underground prison waiting to happen.

"From airstrikes, for some time yes, but Joanus' men have been using artillery strikes focused in the same areas from the ground". She stands up and walks away, I watch her as she takes a holo from of the top of some cargo. Without saying anything she puts it down on the floor between myself and Peeta and presses a button.

A map of district 13 is displayed. "This was 2 hours ago" Cressida says. The lights in the hovercraft barely allow people to see one another, so what I am looking at is made worse because it is so vividly clear.

My eyes glance over the area where the buildings were on the surface, all that remains is rubble. The house that was provided for us by Paylor is gone, Haymitch and Effie's building gone, the rows of workers houses completely flattened. I am looking for the main doors to the fortress but I can't see anything, in fact where it used to be is rocks, cement and pieces of iron. The entire entrance is destroyed. I clear my throat and look into Cressida's eyes. "They're trapped aren't they?" I didn't need a response I knew what had happened, when we bombed two if it wasn't for Boggs we would have buried thousands of innocent lives underneath a mountain. This is almost the same, only this time everyone is trapped hundreds of feet underground.

I slide back in my seat and close my eyes I begin to think of Rye and Willow, what they are doing and that the only thing I want to do now is to get to them and leave Panem forever. The noise of the jets begins to fade away into a soft buzzing sound.

I open my eyes and its dark, just a few eerie red lights in the ceiling of the hovercraft. I move my feet and feel something blocking them. Raising my head, I try to focus on who or what is at the foot of where I am lying. "Peeta carried you over, you almost fell of the chair, he thought you needed some sleep" it's Johanna.

I sit up and push the blanket down to my waist, "How long have you been there" I say looking around the rest of the hovercrafts bay. Almost everyone else is asleep except Cressida who is sat a computer screen. "Oh just a couple of hours, there wasn't room to lie down anywhere else, so I thought if I fall down who better to fall on to" She says in a chirpy voice.

"Katniss, I know you aren't happy with what happened in that hijacking area, I am so sorry that Gale". I stop her from continuing. "Gale protected me, but he would have done the same for any one with us. It wasn't your fault, it could have been anyone who tried to kill me, there were so many in the place" I say. "I know, Gale was a good guy, Marcus was too until he was taken, I'm lucky though. I could have ended up like him had Gale not saved me too." She begins to move her hands up and down her legs as though she was feeling awkward about what she was saying. I have never seen this in Johanna before, she is normally as cold as stone, but now she seems stripped of all feeling, like a child whose pet animal had just died.

"Well I am back to being alone again, no one left who loves me" she says forcing a smile. "We all love you Johanna, you are like our family. I would have hated you as a sister, but I can go as far as you being a cousin or something" I reply.

She moves her tongue over her lips and then rubs her nose with her sleeve; the forced smile has now manifested into a real one and she begins to laugh quietly.

"No one has said anything like that to me, well not since my Mother and Marcus". She stands up allowing my feet to be free under the blanket. "Thank you Katniss, you are a great friend, if a little spoilt" she says, as she walks away and sits down near to Cressida.

The stars are flying past as I look out of the window, next to where I am lying; my eyes begin to drop down over the sea. Something doesn't seem right; the waves are moving a strange way. I get up from the bed and make my way down the hovercraft to a window where I can get a better view. As I look down once more I can make out black objects moving on the water; what could they be, whales perhaps?

I walk over to Cressida and stand behind her looking at the screen. "Any idea what's below us, there's something in the water?" I say. "Destroyer crafts, we have been monitoring them, so far we have counted 14" she says, typing on the keyboard in front of her. "What are they?" I say confused.

"They are from Precia, more than likely carrying troops, ammunition and what's worrying us the most is sea to land cruise missiles". She turns and looks up to me. "If they are what we think they are they will have enough range to fire from the coastline to 13, or any district east of district 2" she adds.

"Would they cause much damage; I mean worse than what's already happened" I say.

"If they are fired on 13 it could be very dangerous, they could collapse the entire fortress on itself" she says as she types faster and faster on the keyboard.

"District 13, this is Cressida, please prepare for imminent cruise attack from Precia destroyers situated 200 miles south east of district 12" she says speaking into the communications microphone.

"Copy Cressida, we are readying anti-air and we'll move troops to 12 to return fire" Paylor says. I am quite surprised that under the circumstances Paylor is still in communications, that isn't in the base of the structure but somewhere around the middle. "We are on approach to 12, eta to base 4 hours" Cressida says. "Very well Cressida, is Katniss with you, can I speak to her?" Paylor replies.

Cressida stands up and moves away from the desk pointing to the microphone, as I sit down she hands me a pair of headphones. I place them on "This is Katniss, President Paylor, how's things down there" I say.

"Good to hear your voice Katniss, we are holding out, Precia's army are trying to force entry into 13 but we are holding ground well with minimal casualties" she replies. From her voice it would seem there is nothing to worry about, but Paylor has always been good at hiding things, being strong when others were weak and even better at rallying spirits.

"We have troops awaiting your arrival Katniss, we are going to flank them from behind and take them out without them knowing what is happening" she replies.

Once I left Precia and closed my eyes my thoughts were to get to my children as quickly as possible, but now it seems that Paylor has set us up to fight our way through rather than landing at the hidden entrance to 13, maybe it no longer exists.

"Ok President Paylor, look forward to getting home" I say with a slightly condescending voice.

"What troops is she talking about" I say getting out of the seat. "There's over ten thousand of them Katniss" Peeta says getting up from a bed. "While you were asleep Gauis and Stipar told me. They have been planning a full military force for ages; it just seems that this triggered it to happen quicker than expected" he adds.

"Why would Paylor need a military force, surely that's just what Snow had with the peacekeepers" I say. Almost out of the darkness Fergus begins to walk over from the other side of the hovercraft. "Paylor was building an army to attack Precia, she had communication a few days after Snows death that her son was going to invade or perhaps she wanted to strike first. You were always going to be called to be enlisted, just so happened you asked first" he says bluntly.

"What is it with these people, why do leaders in Panem think that there is a need to attack other people all the time and if she, if 13 knew about an invasion, why didn't she just bomb the tower straight away, why wait?"

Fergus looks at me as if he wants to answer my question but can't or won't. He knows something that I wouldn't want to hear, maybe something that would have stopped me helping altogether.

The flight seems to take ages but it gives me time to gather my thoughts and to build enough confidence for what might be waiting for us when we land in 13. I haven't spoken to Peeta at all since we boarded, I have been sitting watching him for the past half an hour, he doesn't seem fazed at all about what's happened.

If anyone has changed since all this began its him, when I think about it I have been through nothing compared to him. He had to pretend to be allies with Cato and the others in the 74th games and then he had to put up with me not allowing him to love me. Then the capture by Snow and what they did to him and the nightmares that still haunt him. I have had it lightly but almost without knowing all I did was for him.

I quietly move over the bags and weapons laid all over the floor and sit next to him. "You ok Katniss?" he says in his soft welcoming voice. I don't answer but look at him deep in the eyes. "You must be hurting so much for Gale, when we were in Tigris' basement he spoke to me while you were asleep, he loved you so much" he adds. "I know, I heard it all, I was pretending to be asleep. Since that day on the beach when you handed me the necklace, I knew it was you I needed to be with and it was you who I loved. When I lost you it just made it clearer". He smiles and looks down at the metal flooring.

"What do you thinks going to happen, you know, when we land?" he says. "I can't think that far ahead. At the moment, I just hope there is somewhere to land, its taking forever to get there" I reply. "Do you have a plan?" he adds as he looks at me once again, only this time I can see concern in his expression.

"Gale would know what to do, he would say we fight, we fight our way in to save the people we love". Peeta's hand grasps mine for a few moments before he returns to looking at the floor. I stand up to make my way to Cressida, but before I can reach him Peeta says something that sends a chill through my body "This time it will be different, there are thousands of troops with you Katniss, this time it isn't to make Panem a better place, it's to save Panem altogether".

Peeta's words begins to ring in my ears, he's right, if we don't win this war we won't have a choice whether we leave Panem or not, there won't be a Panem.

"13 Command, this is Cressida on route, we have unidentified aircraft closing in on our position, do you copy?" Cressida says into her comms desk. "Cressida, we copy, please be advised that they are not friendly, repeat not friendly, suggest you land at the earliest opportunity" Beetee responds.

"Land? We have only just got over district 11, there is still a couple of hours to go" I say looking at her screen. "13 Command, affirmative we will see how far we can go and land, over and out" she says turning her seat around to me.

"How many?" I say. "2 inbound attack hovercraft from Precia, we will have to go low and try and keep out of their range, although they are much quicker than we are" she replies. "Can't we fire on them?" I don't begin to know what weapons these things have on them but surely we aren't going to be able to run from them. "No Katniss, this is mainly a transporter craft, it's meant to carry things not to attack, all we have is a single Gatling gun and flares" she says getting out of her seat.

"Attention everyone, fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a potential crash landing. We have attack hovercraft closing in on our position and we can't outrun them, we may need to perform extreme evasive manoeuvres" she shouts

"You two Katniss, I need to go to the cockpit, it's going to be a bumpy ride" she says smiling at me. I can tell she is as scared as the rest of us but she must have already been in this circumstance many times since the war began. I return to my seat next to Peeta and buckle myself in.

Twenty maybe thirty minutes pass and nothing happens, it's beginning to feel like it was a drill to get us prepared should something happen, but that's when the first missile hits the side of the hovercraft.

It violently lurches to one side causing everything on the floor to slam against the walls. One of the bags spills open and a flare goes whistling to the back of the bay before igniting.

The inside of the hovercraft is now bathed in a bright green light and begins to fill with a fine dusty smoke. I am trying to look out the window on the other side where the explosion came from, but I can see nothing but darkness. The whole craft then tips on its side, I am now looking at the others who were just moments ago across the aircraft and now seem like they are above us. Pieces of dirt, metal and liquid begins to fall down on our faces, but as quickly as it happened the aircraft levels out once more.

I twist myself around in my seat to look out the window closest to me, I can see hills, trees, lakes and animals in the fields below and they are terrifyingly close. "Attention, this is Cressida, we are going to try and fight them off, if it fails we will land immediately. We took some damage to the wing but it hasn't caused any stabilisation problems, hang on for a few more minutes".

We are all pushed back into our seats as the hovercraft begins to rapidly climb before sharply turning to the left. I am not sure if it's worse sitting here not being able to see what's going on or actually being able to see it all.

A loud grinding noise from the guns at the front of the plane makes the whole bay shake, through the window a huge fireball lights up the inside as though the sun had risen into the sky. We straighten out again and it becomes calm again. "Do you think we got them both" Peeta says, his hands tightly gripped onto his seat so much so that all of his knuckles are almost paper white. Before I can answer the hovercraft is struck for a second time.

A sudden gush of air fills the bay and bits of paper begin to fly around. As my eyes recover from the flash of light, I look down to where the flare was burning at the back of the bay. It's not there the door isn't either. I can see Fergus desperately trying to hang onto several weapon bags as the air begins to be sucked out. Just seconds later a light begins to flash above our heads and an alarm. This is it, we are going down. I look at Peeta hoping it won't be for the last time, I close my eyes and picture the children with mother, then Gale, then Prim.

As if the bone shattering impact wasn't enough, the hovercraft rolls over and over, windows smash and equipment crashes around our feet.


	20. Chapter 20

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 13

**Chaper 20**

I am awake, I am breathing, every bone in my body aches but I am still alive. I am immortal, I must be, so many times I have been put back together both physically and mentally and not even a fireball wreck can end my terrors. I try to look around, to see what's left of the hovercraft but the black smoke makes it impossible to see. All I can smell are fumes and they're getting to the back of my throat with every breath. With all my effort I manage to release my safety belt. It's hard to believe a piece of material is strong enough to deaden the impact of a hovercraft hitting the ground. We must be on the side as once the belt is off I slide down the side, of the bay through broken glass and strange liquids.

"Hello! Peeta? Johanna?" I call out hoping that someone will reply, nothing. A moment of dread fills my almost empty mind; could everyone really be dead. I am lifted up by my suit and dragged backwards down the plane to what's left of the back of the hovercraft. I am trying to see who has come to my rescue but the smoke has caused my eyes to become blurred. I am now on the grass looking up at tree's consciously checking that all my limbs move as expected. Then the most satisfying face appears blocking the light, Peeta. His face is covered with scratches and his hands are splattered with blood, is it his, one of the others or mine?

As I begin to try and sit back up the attack craft screams above us and begins to circle round. Fergus drags several weapons bags on to the grass next to me and hands my bow. "We need to destroy the hovercraft; they won't leave us alone until they know it's destroyed. We need to make it look like we all died" he shouts to me. I understand what he is saying but I have no idea if the others are ok or have even managed to get off it.

"Do it now Katniss!" I look up over the tree's and notice the attack craft finishing its circle round and is lining up a strafe attack. I press the quiver for the explosive arrow and without thought fire it into the bay. At the same time Precia's attack craft begins to fire its machine guns towards us. If I was stood up I would have been blown backwards with the force of the exploding hovercraft. Huge pieces of metal fly through the air, I roll over on to my face and cover my ears.

Once I again I am being lifted up, only this time I can get to my feet as Peeta pulls my arm over his shoulder to balance me. My eyes are now becoming clear again and I can see Johanna and Cressida walking in front of us. I try to look back at where we had just come from but the fire from the explosion has now set fire to the trees nearby and the heat is unbearable.

"You ok Katniss, any damage". it's Frostine, she walks up to the side of me checking me over paying particular interest to my face. "I'm ok, a little sore but I have been a lot worse" I reply.

"Where's Celestia, Gauis, Stipar?" I say. Peeta stops walking and looks at me, "Celestia and Stipar are fine they are ahead of us, they were the first off. We lost the pilots and Gauis, we couldn't get to them in time. They wouldn't have felt any pain" he says. It's almost like he doesn't care anymore, he said it like a doctor would say it to a grieving mother whose child was lost in the war.

"Peeta, I can't do this anymore, we just need to get our children and leave. We can hide on another island far away from here" I say as we continue walking through the forest.

For the first time since we left 12 his tone in his voice changes, I am a very strong willed person and normally what I say would be final. "The games are over Katniss, everyone and everything thing will be gone forever if we hide. Panem needs you, I need you, and our children need you… to be you".

He is right; this isn't a war to cleanse Panem anymore it's a war to save it. If the country can't stop the advance of Joanus will it stop there, we won't be able to hide, revenge is an addiction that most people can't give up and I know full well that Joanus will hunt us down if he gets 13.

We continue walking silently for an hour before Cressida stops ahead of us and calls us over. "Katniss, Paylor is making contact, here take this holo." My hand closes around the metallic shell but Cressida doesn't let go. "It's the last one, please don't break it or lose it" she says smiling.

"District 13, this is Katniss, do you read me?" I say. "Katniss, this is President Paylor I read you, thank goodness you're ok, we saw the hovercraft go down on radar and feared the worst" she replies. "We lost Gauis and two flight crew, there's only 7 of us left" I say. "I know Katniss; I am sorry; Cressida updated me before I asked to speak to you" Paylor replies.

"There are 3,000 troops waiting for you on the border of 11 and 12. We have reinforcements coming from District 2, 13's under attack but it's a strong fortress and we can hold out" she adds. "Why do we need so many of Panem's people to fight, Precia's a small place" I say.

"That is true, however, Joanus managed to infect fifteen to twenty thousand of Panem's people with the hijacking drugs. Those that came back had the drugs on them and they got to a lot of the people on their return from Precia." She goes quiet for a few seconds, so long that I thought the line had dropped.

"Katniss, you have to remember that not everyone from the districts you see will be safe, approach with extreme caution. I know you won't like this and I would find it difficult as well, but you need to shoot first if you understand me" she says.

"I understand" I reply handing the holo back to Cressida. She looks at me. "You can keep hold of it, after all you are the commander here" she says. "I don't want it anymore, it only leads to someone's death and I can't be responsible anymore" I reply.

"Just try and get Haymitch on line but don't let Paylor know" I add, turning around to look at Celestia. "I want to know my children are ok, I want to speak to them".

Celestia has been quiet since we picked her up from the Tower, even more since we managed to escape the crash. I hadn't even bothered to check if she was ok. I somehow feel that she is somewhat responsible for all of this though; I know her father is the one to have instigated the kidnapping, the hijacking, the training games and the attacks, but I wouldn't have been involved had she not turned up on our doorstep. Or perhaps I would have been, from what Fergus said I would have been part of this war all along. It just made it easier for Paylor to ask me to help knowing that I wanted to protect my children.

After a couple of hours walking we can see the border to 12 in the distance, I know it well. The endless fields of crops, orchards and farmhouses come to an abrupt end as the forest at the edge of 12 takes over.

With District 12 being a mining area most of its natural beauty remained intact, but it still bears the scars of President Snow's firebombing.

Despite what Paylor said we have yet to come across any of our troops let alone the hijacked fighters so everyone begins to be on guard as we sight two males standing by the now none existent electric fencing around 12.

Fergus and Stipar begin to walk a little faster, obviously wanting to protect the rest of us and to make sure that they are no threat. I am happy that they are doing the talking for once and am content to sit and listen.

"I'm Corporal Stipar and this is Private Fergus, we are from District 13 returning from Precia, is everything clear to command" Stipar says. The two men immediately look up and down Fergus and Stipar as though to check for weapons or explosives. "What's in the bags?" One of them says. "Few timed fuses, explosives, 2 or 3 rifles, why the interest?" Stipar says. The man looks at his companion and begins to smile. "Oh, I apologise you obviously are a little behind on the protocols being out of Panem for a while. I am Seyla and this is Bronas our ranks are not important, what is important is that you have weapons that we need, open the bag". Stipar stands staring at the two men. I can sense that this situation could quickly go very wrong so I pull out an arrow and quickly run to the front.

"Gentleman, I am Katniss Everdeen on orders from President Paylor to return with our captive from Precia, are you really going to try and take our weapons?" I say authoritatively.

They both take a step back, almost bowing their heads. "Forgive me Miss Everdeen, we didn't realise it was you, a captive you say?" The man calling himself Seyla says.

I am not entirely sure whether we should be bringing Celestia let alone openly telling people about her, but it could rally everyone knowing that we have some sort of bargaining material over Joanus. "Celestia, daughter of Joanus" I say.

They both look shocked at the announcement and immediately step aside allowing us to walk through into 12. As we make our way through the human gates I overhear them say. "Perhaps we got it wrong, she is a leader" and "She definitely gets my vote if she can capture the enemy's daughter from under his nose". My mind begins trying to unravel what they said, what they got wrong and what does he mean by vote. Has something changed in Panem whilst we have been gone?

Although 12 is a far cry from what it once was its still home and I feel as comfortable as I have ever been since we left to go to see Paylor. "Looks like most of its survived" Peeta says looking over the area. He's right, Joanus must have avoided 12's forest area, perhaps knowing that it would yield little or no casualties and those who retreated to the woods would be of little importance to district 13.

I lead the group through the makeshift openings I trod when I was a girl growing up. I walked the exact same way so many times that the grass and bushes were trodden into a path. As we get closer to the main area of 12 I can smell soot in the air, more than likely the main town has been once again bombed.

"I think we need to rest as soon as we can find shelter" Frostine says. "It will enable me to give you all a once over to make sure you're not carrying any serious injuries or wounds. We don't want you to fall ill when we close in on 13" she adds.

I am not sure what I was expecting as we broke out through the trees of the forest but what I did see overwhelmed me. As we got to the top of the Victors Village hundreds and hundreds of soldiers were milling around the centre. Some lying asleep on the floor, some sitting on bits of rubble whilst others were patrolling the area. A great roaring fire in the middle creating a natural focus for resting.

I notice that our house has been spared from any attacks although it now resembles a military command base with people walking in and out of it with rifles and sheets of paper.

We make our way through the group towards the house, I had thought that due to the dying light and the shear crowdedness of the group that we would go unnoticed but the whispers began to sound behind us and eventually everyone was looking straight at us, at me.

I wasn't sure if they would be happy to see us or angered as we had been on another island when the war started here. Any doubts I had were quickly washed away when Rues whistle echoed around the circle. As one, arms and hands were raised, there I was standing in the middle of three thousand soldiers saluting me.

I am embarrassed and lower my head, but Peeta seems overjoyed by the welcome almost acting like a star from the Capitol waving as we continue to walk through.

We reach the stairs leading up to our house just as a woman closes the door and walks down.

"I'm sorry madam no unauthorised access to the command room" she says as she looks up. I notice her eyes light up and even in the low light I can see her blushing. "Miss Everdeen, sorry Commander Everdeen, I am so sorry. We have been expecting you, I am Private Nelson. Please follow me I will show you inside" she says.

"I think I know what the inside looks like" I reply jokingly. "Oh yes, my mistake, sorry, it's not every day you get to meet a hero let alone a group of them" she adds. A hero? I say to myself we have been doing a job, what we have been asked to do just like everyone of the soldiers here.

She opens the door and walks inside holding it open for us. "He's just through the bottom door" she says smiling at me.

I walk down the corridor not without checking the other rooms, especially the first one on the left where I spent most of my time alone after the rebellion. I push the door open and a shiver ripples down my back as the memory of President Snow sitting there come flooding back. The room has been lit by many candles so it isn't easy to make out who is actually in the room, but as I look over to the main desk his hair is like a beacon on the top of a mountain, Haymitch.

I rush over and before he has even managed to get up from his chair I have my arms around him. "Haymitch" I whisper.

"Katniss, I don't know what it is about this place but I am never sure what reception I will get from you here, I'm glad it isn't a bucket of water over my head in any case" he says.

I just managed to compose myself and let go of him when another welcoming voice comes from the side of me. "Oh my darling has returned", I turn my head and this time it's me being hugged as though there was no tomorrow. "Effie" I say kissing her on the cheek.

"What are you both doing here?" I say sitting down in a heap on the chair next to the desk. Haymitch walks around for a moment, Effie watching him as though he was about to perform a song.

"They sent me here, well no. I asked to come here; I wanted to be one of the first friends you saw on your return. I think we can go with the _friend's_ title now can't we?" He walks over to the side cabinet and picks up a glass and walks back over to me. "Don't worry, its water, Effie is still on my back about my medicine intake". He leans in towards me and whispers "Shhh, it might be a little alcoholic, just a little though" he says before looking up at Effie.

"I am very sorry to hear about Gale, he was a fine soldier and a dear friend to everyone, I know you must have taken it quiet badly" he says. I am unsure how to react with the statement but I am not going to let it stay on my mind any longer. "He died saving us, saving me; I will remember that for the rest of my life" I reply. Haymitch looks a little taken back by my harsh reply and coughs "Right, your children are ok, I won't lie when I left they were scared, but they are in good hands at the base of 13. Believe me it would take weeks for anyone to get down that far". Haymitch says taking a drink of the fake water_._

"Oh, where are my manners, I will get you all a bite to eat and some water" Effie says clapping her hands together like an excited child. She skips out through the door in a way only she could pull off and Haymitch sits on the table in front of me.

"We have lost a lot of people Katniss, thousands, even before what Joanus did to them. It's just so hard to contain; most of the time our troops can't work out who's the good guys and who's the bad. Which leads me onto why I wanted to be here". He finishes off the rest of the glass and places it on the table.

"Paylor has asked me to tell you that you will be leading this group of troops into 13, but we are at a disadvantage, whilst Joanus can drop bombs on targets in any district we cannot fire on our own people. I'm not going to lie Katniss, if you march to 13 with this many in one group you will be a like a target circle on a door" he says.

"I am not going to tell you how to do it, I know you won't listen even if I tried but I am really worried for you Katniss, I don't think I can say anything that will ease the situation" he adds.

"Let him know I am with you, let him know I got out of the tower" Celestia says. I had almost forgotten she was with us but Celestia moves forward and stands beside me. Haymitch looks at her then at me. "Is this who I think it is?" he says leaning towards her.

"It's Celestia, Joanus tied her up in his tower and left her there for us to get her, that's the type of person we are dealing with here" I say putting my hand over hers. She looks up at me and smiles at me, so much so I almost seem Prim in her eyes. "My father, he never hugs me, he never says he loves me. Since Mother died he has hardly looked at me" she says.

"It might just work" Haymitch says jumping up off the table, as he runs through the door he almost knocks over Effie as she arrives with a plate of drinks and bread. "It's not the best of meals I am afraid, there isn't a great deal out here" she says placing the tray on the table.

"It's great Effie, thank you" I say. We haven't eaten properly in days if not weeks, so the smell of bread even if it is slightly off is like pure gold. We all grab a piece of bread savouring each bite. "I can tell I didn't bake this" Peeta says pulling out a piece of wheat that had obviously been missed when baking.

After a short while Haymitch reappears carrying a camera, following him are a few of the troops from outside all carrying some form of electrical equipment, trails of cables running behind them. "What's all this for, can't we just use a holo to contact command?" I say.

"We aren't contacting command, no they wouldn't agree to it. We have to do this on our own, using our initiative Paylor would say" he says connecting up cables and wires.

"Katniss my little fiery angel, you my dear are going to do a Propo, with our new friend Celestia" he says with the biggest smile I have ever seen.


	21. Chapter 21

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 13

**Chaper 21**

I could never get used to being front of the camera, when we used to watch Caesar Flickerman's overindulgent and brash interviews of tributes going in to the games, I could never understand why he would want to be in the public eye under those conditions. I guess the Capitol were too preoccupied with their ego's and gambling to be bothered about what those interviews meant for everyone who participated.

Haymitch and some of the troops were busy with organising the furniture around the room; the large wooden desk was moved out altogether and replaced with the kitchen table. Blankets were taken from the bedroom and hung over the curtains, this made the room look very dark meaning the flickering candles would be the only lights focused on me. Still it's a lot subtler than those spotlights the Capitol used.

"If you excuse the new décor and new layout of the room, I think that looks good to go?" Haymitch says rubbing his chin with his hand. "Why the blankets, we not expecting bombings are we?" I say walking around to where Haymitch had placed a large white dot on the floor.

"That's exactly why, if Precia or Joanus finds out where this has been broadcast they will be on us in a flash, this makes it look like any ordinary building, especially with the limited light".

I am actually taken back by how quickly he had thought of all this, within half an hour he managed to put together a camera and the whole room has been transformed. "Was this planned, me doing a Propo?" I say.

"It was only going to be as a last resort, I know you don't like doing them but this is a last resort" Haymitch replies.

Peeta and Johanna have been stood in the doorway for a while watching the dramatic room reconstruction. "You don't want to say anything?" I say to Peeta. "Oh no, you will be fine Katniss, what you managed to achieve last time with your words will be more than enough, what else could I possible say to help the situation" he replies.

Johanna moves forward into the room. "I can add a few things if you want?" she says. Whilst I am not entirely sure if she is joking or not Haymitch puts his arm out to stop her advance to the filming spot. "No, I think Katniss has it. Wouldn't want the allies to go completely over the top" he says. I begin to look around for someone who I would have loved to give me direction. "Where's Cressida" I say. Peeta shrugs his shoulders "She left about 30 minutes ago, something about a call from 13. She got in a small jeep". I frown, partially as she isn't here watching and also because neither Peeta nor Cressida could be bothered to tell me that she was leaving".

Despite all the setting up and the decision that was made I would be the one to actually stand in front of the camera, Haymitch had failed in one simple point "What do I say?" I exclaim.

Haymitch actually looks worried by my comment as if he hadn't planned on this issue. He begins walking around the room again and picks up the bottle of liquid he liked to call water and pours another glass. After taking a very large sip he turns round. "We have more troops than they do; all they have are some people from the districts who don't understand what they are doing and a few military from Precia. They are outnumbered on the ground. We need to let Panem know that we are winning and that you saved Celestia" he says. It isn't the best of rallying speeches but if that is all I have to go with then I have to try my best.

"Are you ready Katniss, this won't be live so don't worry about any pauses" Haymitch says.

"It won't be live?" I say curiously. "No I have spoken to Beetee, he'll broadcast it without Paylor knowing, he's the only one that can" he replies.

I nod my head and look straight at the makeshift camera. Haymitch gives me a countdown from three, two, one.

"People of Panem, this is Katniss Everdeen your Mockingjay. I along with several other troops from District 13's military recently returned from Precia. A country whose people are kind, forgiving and completely oblivious to their leader Joanus Snow's plans to take Panem. He took people from our districts by poison and had them trained, hijacked and programmed to fight their own families, friends and allies.

Those of you who fight for him are blind to his cruelty, he has no morale's as to who he hurts, who he kills". As if on cue Celestia begins to walk over into shot and stands beside me.

"This is Joanus' daughter Celestia, we found her bound to a chair; her father used her as a way of escaping, a human shield" I say. "Father, please stop what you are doing, too many innocent people have lost their lives, for what? Panem has been fine since Grandfather died, I miss him and I know you do, but you are doing this for revenge not for the good of the people" Celestia says, she turns her head and looks up towards me. I can see her eyes welling up, she is being so brave for someone so young.

"Over ten thousand Panem troops are on their way to District 13 now, we need to stop the bloodshed, everyone out there fighting stop now, for your family's sake, for your children's sake, for Panem's sake. The games are over; no one wins if you continue to fight."

Out of the corner of my eye I see Haymitch frantically waving at the man operating the camera. Its stops and he walks over to us with a big smile on my face. "You're a natural Katniss, who would ignore what you have to say, one day my darling, one day soon" he says.

I bend down and put my hands on Celestia's shoulders and look her deep into the eyes. "He's going to be killed isn't he" she says, in a voice already expecting the worse. "If there is quick ceasefire there will be no more deaths, let's just hope enough people hear it" I reply. "You did brilliantly, I didn't expect you to want to say anything" I add.

Celestia looks down then begins to walk away. "I had to; you are more of a parent than he has been. I wish you were my Mother, I am sorry about what I said when I met you here last time, I didn't want to say those things" she says quietly before heading out of the room.

The room is emptying quickly and I make my way back to Peeta and Johanna. "What's the plan now?" Johanna says. "We sleep then I guess we set off for 13 in the morning" I reply, knowing that tomorrow will be one of the worst days of my life.

"Do you think we will ever get our house back after all this" Peeta says. "I don't want it back, it holds too many bad memories now, we need to find a new place, let's just hope it's in Panem" I reply.

It felt wrong but Peeta said that Effie had sorted out our room and we were allowed to sleep in our own beds. It seemed it had been used as a weapons storage as there were now boxes and boxes of bullets and shells on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. I wasn't going to complain though, just being in a soft bed and closing my eyes with Peeta was all I wanted to do.

It must be almost dawn when I wake up with a jump, my head sticky and all my clothes wet with sweat. I try not to remember any of the nightmare's I have anymore, since the children were born I had managed to almost wipe them out completely. There were more good things in my life than bad, but now they have all come flooding back. Luckily I cannot remember the vivid details, but the last thing that happened before I woke was Willow coming in to the house with a Mutt on a piece of rope. "I found it wandering in the forest" she said to me. Its blood red eyes and huge teeth that I watched biting into Cato were almost next to my face.

I turn and look at Peeta, he is awake and is looking at me. "You ok" he says. "I'm fine, just glad you're here" I say before closing my eyes once again.

I awake with a start once more, only this time it isn't from a nightmare it's from the sound of engines roaring past the bedroom window. Peeta gets up and rushes over and peers through the curtains. "What is it? Are we being attacked" I say.

"No, we are definitely not being attacked, they're ours and there's loads of them". I get up out of bed and pull on my dressing gown and Peeta opens the curtains up fully. The sky is almost completely clear, beautifully blue, almost perfect. I'm almost transfixed by seeing the outside world from our house again, and as my eyes slowly fall down to the ground there are rows and rows of military vehicles lining up outside. "It looks as though we won't be walking after all" I say to Peeta, as he begins to get dressed. "Yeah, only problem is we get to the front line quicker" he replies.

We pack our things up and get ready to leave our home once more. By the time we walk down our steps many of the trucks have already left, a long convoy is beginning to wind its way out of the Victor's Village grounds and towards the main road to 13. The troops on the front of the group of trucks must have been ready before night fell.

I had wanted to say goodbye to Haymitch and Effie before we left but they were nowhere to be seen, and as today we could see our children again I didn't want to go searching for them. A young man no older than 16 is directing people onto different waiting trucks, they look very much like what the Capitol used especially in the time between the 74th and 75th games. They no longer bear the Capitol Crest, a Mockingjay with a feather in its beak has replaced it, it certainly looks less military to the ones President Coin used in the Propo's.

Peeta catches the eye of the young man and we are directed to a truck with the number 05 on the side, as we climb up the metal ladder at the back we notice Johanna, Stipar, Fergus and Frostine already sitting patiently at the front of the seating area. "Bout time you showed up, don't you know we have a very important meeting today" Stipar says jokingly. "Let just hope it's not with a coroner" Johanna replies, which instantly changes the mood.

As we sit down the young man comes around the back of the truck. "You are on standby, just waiting on 2 others, sit tight, you are Spear squad" he shouts.

As the truck is quiet large it doesn't surprise me that more are to board, it must have room for 12 to fourteen people. We wait, so much so that the driver of the truck kills the engine; at this rate we will not only be at the back of the convoy but miles behind the rest of them.

"What do you thinks happening, what's the holdup" Frostine says. Peeta lifts himself up to look out of the back of the truck. "Must be someone important, perhaps they are getting intelligence on the situation". My first thought is Cressida, but then remembering that she is more use to 13 in the air, we could be her mode of transport to reach the nearest airbase.

We sit and watch the last truck next to us pull away, everyone is now visibly uneasy about the delay. Peeta stands up, "I am going to find out what's happening, we need to get moving". Ducking his head from the low roof he walks to the back of the truck, but before he can jump down he stops and moves back. Two hands appear on the railings and Haymitch climbs up. "Haymitch?" I say expecting him to give us some final orders or words of advice.

He has changed his clothes and is now wearing a long trench coat with dark rough trousers, he pulls out a holo from one of the coats oversized pockets. I put my hand out ready to accept another one of these contraptions when he pulls it away from my grasp and presses the screen.

"What are you doing, won't they let me have another one" I say. Haymitch begins to laugh under his breath "No, I think I am going to keep hold of this one, just for a while at least."

Peeta as confused as the rest of us smirks, "You don't mean to say Paylor's made you come as well".

Haymitch looks over at Peeta, then the others and then me. "Paylor has nothing to do with this, in fact I haven't heard from her in a couple of days. I think it's about time I actually did some doing rather than saying what not to do. I can't let you all go into this with me sitting watching it all on the screens" he says.

"What about Effie?" I say concerned. "Well let's just say she wasn't happy about it, maybe she is realising how much she can't do without me. Heck she might go easy on me with the medicine when I get back. Your message we recorded has been sent to Beetee, by now he will be waiting for an opportune moment to broadcast it. Let's just hope enough people see it and hear what you are saying" he adds.

"Get her on" he shouts to the back of the truck. I am almost about to ask who he meant when Celestia is helped up the ladder by the young military man. I am already feeling on edge about her joining us. What use is she if we get attacked?

"Celestia has agreed to accompany us into 13, let's just make this clear, I didn't ask her, it wouldn't even have crossed my mind. She asked to come, but in fairness it might just be the weapon we take down Joanus' army with".

Celestia quietly walks down the truck and sits down next to Frostine. I am almost relieved as there was a seat next to me, but maybe she is trying to keep out of my way as a child would its parents after doing something wrong.

Two bangs on the side of the vehicle and finally we begin to move, the driver obviously trying to catch up with the rest of the convoy begins to throw us into corners, so much so we are struggling to stay in our seats. Frostine fastens Celestia into a seatbelt. I have to smile as seconds later Johanna looks down and begins to search for hers before finding them and locking them so tightly it almost cuts her clothes in half.

It's not too far now to the border of 13 although the final stretch will have to be done on foot, especially as most of the area is protected with dense forest. The talk in the back is very false, no one is talking about anything in particular and it's just a way of passing the time and an attempt of trying to forget what is about to come.

After around two hours we notice the truck begin to slow down rapidly. This prompts Haymitch to pull out the holo. He begins to press buttons on the screen. His face turns from almost calm and patient to angry and frustrated. He turns and almost throws the holo at me. "Can you sort that thing out; I have no idea what to press" he says in a huff.

I quickly get the communications menu on the screen and then the radar. As I am looking at a map of the close proximity a message is displayed over the map.

'_Enemy articulated troop unit spotted SSW of 13B 5Miles. Possible 40-50 foot soldiers 2-3 armoured ground to air vehicles'_

"What does it say" Peeta says, Haymitch is now leaning over almost in Peeta's lap.

"We have to get off the truck" I say abruptly. Almost coincidentally the driver slams on the breaks and we veer to the right before coming to a stop in a small ditch. That is the prompt for us to rush out the back.

As our feet touch the ground I am almost expecting bullets to come flying past my face or even the sound of gun fire close by but there is nothing. It's deadly silent apart from a few birds in the sky. I look towards the route we were taking and there are 10 other trucks also waiting with us, there passengers all standing around like we are. "We need to get off the road" Stipar says running over to a small hill at the side of the road.

As we begin to make our way to Stipar the holo communicator goes off. "This is Squad Mace requesting instruction from Spear squad, over" a voice says. I almost disregard the message until Haymitch tells me that is us. "Spear squad received, everyone take cover to the west of the road" I reply. All 10 groups of troops begin to rush over to the same hill we are behind, it is almost synchronised. I did that, I say to myself, I just told 900 people to do something and they did it.

We wait for a little while simply with our heads down, none of us really have any idea how long we should be waiting, but it wouldn't be long. "Spear Squad, this is Mace, enemy troops approaching from the north along the road. They have seen the trucks" a voice sounds on the comms

Although we are at the furthest point away from the front vehicles I lift my head up just enough to see over the top of the hill.

Like ants walking inline I watch as they get closer and closer to our vehicles before stopping around 500 meters away. They are too far away for any of us to see what they are doing but several of them move to one of the 3 vehicles. In a matter of seconds a missile flies straight up into the sky. My eyes gaze up as I watch it dance silently towards the clouds, but to my horror it dramatically turns around and begins hurtling straight down. I imagine everyone one else is witnessing this same event but I put the call out anyway. "This is Spear squad everyone heads down now" I shout into the holo.

As the last word exits my mouth the missile impacts on a truck in the middle of the convoy sending it upwards in to the air, large pieces of metal are flung around like pieces of paper in the wind. It comes down in a fiery ball and lands on another truck next to it. The noise is terrible, too loud to make another call. I pull out a flare arrow and fire it low above the trucks, the signal to attack.

As I get to my feet I can already see most of the other troops leaping over the side of the hill, the sound of machine guns rattle and echo around the surrounding valleys. I am just about to run down to support the others when Haymitch grabs my arm and stops me. "No Katniss, we need you in 13 leave the others to deal with this" he says.

"We can't just sit and watch, we are here to help" I scream back at him. "There are more important duties we need you for when we reach 13 believe me" he says letting go of my arm. Defiant I pull out an explosive arrow and fire it into the heart of the invading army, an almost perfect shot detonates right on top of one of the missile vehicles causing a ripple of explosions. I can see men and women lying on the ground too far away to see any injuries but I know that my actions have caused loss of life. I say to myself "Sometimes war isn't personal". For once I think Gale was right, sometimes it takes death to stop killings.

As quickly as the fight began its over, the Precia military have been completely wiped out with only a few casualties to our forces. "Frostine, go and see if there is anyone you can help" I say. "Yes Ma'am" she says picking up her medical bag from the back of the truck. As she runs down the road I shout, "Check their fighters too, we may have to fight them but that doesn't mean we don't care for the injured". Frostine turns and grins before continuing to the wounded.


	22. Chapter 22

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 12

**Chaper 22**

Frostine is able to help several of the injured but none of which are from Precia, this world we live is sickening where people are forced to fight when there is no need for any conflict.

As a group we fill the remaining trucks with the weapons and ammunition that has been salvaged from the two burnt out vehicles and board for the final stretch to 13. The troops who lost their transport now spread out into the remaining trucks, ours is now completely full. There are three men and two young ladies now on board and all of them are looking straight at me, their eyes almost burning into my skin.

Luckily it only takes another hour and we are at 13's border, no more ambushes and we still have yet to see any hijacked from the other districts. "That's the end of the road" the driver shouts back to us. One by one we get off the back of the truck, I look in the direction of the fortress but it is not visible as the huge forest stretches out in front of us like an ocean of green.

We decide to have a small meal before we set off, nothing much just a small piece of fruit a few sips of water and some form of wheat bar which was the sweetest thing I have tasted in years. As we sit around eating I notice some of the other troops near us without food, pacing back and forth.

"Did we not have enough food to go round" I say out loud. "Nerves, it can get to you when you don't expect it" Fergus says. "Leave them too it, probably for the best to get it out of the way now" he adds.

The route through the forest to 13 is not an easy one, there are vast areas of rocks and hills that have never been trodden on, the tree's so closely grown that as we walk through I lose sight of people who are just a few feet away from me.

A beep comes from my holo; I had forgotten I had it Haymitch must have heard it too as he is stood next to me almost before the sound stops. I connect the earpiece in and await a voice. "Spear squad do you copy; this is President Paylor". Instinctively I look at Haymitch and he must have realised who it was as his mouth seemed to drop.

"I can hear you, this is Katniss" I reply.

"Katniss, how far are you from the base?" Paylor says. Although I don't know these forests as much as the ones in 12 I can remember the distance from the many times I was in the air above them. "Two maybe three miles, probably an hour away" I say. "Good, do not come towards the main entrance, it has taken too much damage and we have destroyed it from inside, we have a tunnel that you can use, I will get Beetee to mark it on your map" she says.

I look down at the holo and the map of the area is already on screen, a yellow circle appears at what looks like the side of a mountain. "President Paylor, is this right, is it down the west side?" I say. "Affirmative, we can't be any more detailed than that, in case there is anyone listening in; when the time is right we will let you know where it is" she says.

"Ok, I will contact you when we are in view" I reply.

"Very good Katniss, oh one thing before you go, you had no authority to produce that video message. I am guessing Haymitch had something to do with it" she goes quiet for a moment. "But, well done, it has certainly opened some of the people's eyes here. If it's done half that out there it could be the momentum swing we need". The line goes dead and the holo switches off.

Haymitch looking sorry for himself stops walking "What did she say, you know about the Propo" he says.

"She said it was brilliant and master stroke" I reply, although not entirely the truth it was what she said in as many words and I want Haymitch to be proud of what he has done. Since I met him on that train to the Capitol, him stinking of alcohol. He has never been thanked for getting us through all of this, for getting me through this. If anyone should be a leader it is him, well if he could reduce the medicinal intake.

As we carry on our trek through the forest of 13 the magnitude of the problem begins to become clear, a huge stream of black smoke is rising up from behind a hill and the sound of aircraft in the skies. They are too far away to make out who they are flying for, but 13 never allowed aircraft around the base, unless it was either leaving or returning from duty, those hovercrafts are almost above it.

"This looks bad" Peeta says. "I did say it wasn't a pretty affair, Joanus isn't messing about but I suppose he has been allowed to build up an arsenal without anyone in Panem knowing, well at least everyone but his father" Haymitch replies.

With this in sight our walk now becomes a jog, the bags and weapons on our backs almost sounding like drums as they bounce up and down on our backs. Within just a few minutes we are almost out of the trees and we can see what is left of the entrance to 13.

I begin to boot up the holo to contact Paylor again as a hovercraft comes in, missing the tops of the trees by just a matter of feet. "Get down" Stipar shouts. We all drop to the floor as it begins to fire on us. It was lucky we hadn't been a few minutes earlier as we would all most certainly be dead now. As it is the tree line prevented the hovercraft from getting a clear shot on us but what it did do was enough to scare some of the younger members of our squads.

I try to turn away as I notice several of them throwing up, pure fear for their lives causing their bodies to attempt to force them away from danger.

The hovercraft banks sharply over the side of the mountain we are heading for. "It's coming back, everyone into the tree's" Haymitch calls out. This time its heading towards us so if it manages to get low enough it could drop a fire bomb on us and we would have no escape.

It begins to whistle as it speeds up towards us, it drops so low that it almost goes out of view for a few seconds but it reappears and its hurtling straight towards me. I grit my teeth and squeeze all the muscles in my body to try and pre-emptively brace myself for the impact. The sound of a Gatling gun rattles and the hovercraft begins to break up in front of our eyes. It rapidly pitches upwards before almost doing a loop back down. As our eyes watch the stricken aircraft fall to the ground another Hovercraft screams in and banks round the mountain. "That's one of ours" Haymitch shouts.

There is a brief moment of pandemonium from everyone thankful for the intervention. This time it's not a war song of cheering but one of relief.

In my mind I am wondering if that was Cressida up there, she would have wanted to get straight back out in the air as quickly as she could when she returned to 13; I just hope I get to find out.

"It's good to know that we still have good guys in the air" Haymitch says looking up into the sky. I imagine that since District 13 took on most of the air transport from 2, if there has been attacks here then it would prevent large scale air attack but even then it would be a risk that any enemy hovercraft shot down could fall on to innocent civilians.

"We have a fifteen-minute walk to our new entrance, we should go back into the tree line to avoid any further opportunist strafing runs from Precia aircraft" I say to the group. There are still upwards of 700 troops in this group and hiding in the trees would still not be enough if anything spots us again. If the pilots of the last hovercraft managed to make Joanus aware of our position it is clear that this won't be the only attack. We begin walking but I notice Haymitch hanging back obviously wanting to say something. Despite me having the title of commander in this I still hold his comments very highly and he almost always knows better than me.

"Anything wrong there Haymitch?" I enquire. "Well, there is an awful lot of us heading in the same direction, perhaps it might be sensible for us to split up, just in case, I don't know, a firebomb is dropped on top us?" he has a condescending tone to his voice but he is right. I connect the holo back up and put a call out to the entire force. "This is Spear squad; all squads break from formation. Keep to you own squads but spread out, keep a minimum of 500 meters apart". Like the district 12 road everyone obeys my command and the squads begin to fan out through the forest.

I check on Celestia, she shouldn't be anywhere near this but had we not got her out when Blue detonated the holo back in Precia she wouldn't be alive, she isn't safe but she is alive. "How you holding up" I say. "I'm ok, how much further do we have to go, my feet are so sore" she replies.

"Oh, not much more, just a ten-minute walk, I want you to make sure you are at the back of the group while we are walking you hear" I say. There isn't really a good place for her to be in this situation but chances are if we are ambushed it will be from the front. "Ok" she says and begins to grin. I am not sure why but I am intrigued by this sudden flood of happiness. "Why you so happy" I enquire. "Oh, just you and Peeta, when I watched you in the first and second games it was like a movie but movies are pretend and now I see you both together, you are for real. I just hope I meet someone as good as him when I am older" she says.

This comment from someone who just weeks ago I was afraid of was so heart-warming, I didn't know I was such a good actor but perhaps all along I wasn't playing a part but acting out the future.

We continue walking and talk between the group becomes minimal as we near the new entrance point. Peeta who had been nearer the front of the group stops and turns around to wait for me to come. Celestia giggles as we approach him, "I'll leave you two alone for a bit" she says skipping to catch up with Johanna.

Peeta's expression is the most serious I have ever seen, more so than when he attempted to make Haymitch mentor us on the first day of the train journey to the Capitol.

"Katniss, I need to speak to you" he says. His tone in his voice makes me become anxious, I can feel my palms becoming sweaty and my face begins to flush. "Look, I don't know whether the both of us will get through this alive but I need to ask you, before we…" he pauses and puts his hands into mine.

"I really wanted to do this properly but I can't see any more opportunities before we get in there" he adds.

"I know we joked about this before all part of the act to fool Snow but I want it for real". He bends down to the floor on one knee and looks up at me. I am completely numb, I have lost all the ability to make any movement and even breathing is a task.

"Katniss Everdeen, will you marry me, will you make a simple baker boy the happiest man in Panem" he holds up a small linen sack and puts it into my hand. I untie the small piece of string keeping it closed and put my fingers in and pull out a ring. Not just any ring, not a piece of metal from the Hob.

It's simply beautiful, a silver circle with a Mockingjay holding a Primrose in its beak, the centre of the Primrose a tiny pearl. I begin to cry and then laugh. This probably isn't the most romantic of places, nor how I know Peeta would have liked to have done it, but it's perfect. It's how we are, we help each other, we keep each other alive, we went through two games together and the uprising. Where better than in a forest so peaceful but surrounded by war. "Peeta", I say attempting to look at him through my tear flooded eyes "Yes, oh yes, I love you, yes".

Peeta stands up and lifts me up, for that moment we are alone our perfect bubble. I kiss him for what seems like minutes but worth every second. A huge cheer goes up and clapping, I hadn't realised but the rest of the group had made an impromptu viewing gallery and we were the centre attraction. Like Celestia said movies aren't real, this is.

I put the ring on my finger and gaze at it for a few moments before picking my bow back up off the ground and getting ready. I turn to Peeta "We will get through this, I have no worry about that now. We are going to find our children, put an end to this war once and for all and grow old together; we have to, Boggs demanded it" I say.

Without us knowing we had gotten closer to the new entrance than we thought we had and with all the cheering any chance of us getting there quietly was now lost.

I press my holo and get ready to speak to President Paylor. "Command this is Spear Squad ready to enter" I say. There is a lot of crackling on the line and after twenty seconds no reply. "I repeat Command this is Spear Squad do you copy, ready to enter". Another long pause before Beetee answers "Katniss, we are in a bit of trouble here, I have opened the passage, we wanted to bring you in but we have been met with attacks through our connecting tunnel" he says.

"Where is it, I can't see any doors or gates" I reply. "There isn't a door, you see that small opening in the side of the mountain, that's your entrance, over and out" I hear gun fire in the background and a lump works its way up into my throat. What's happened to Paylor and how have Precia's men got into command.

"Ok squads, it doesn't seem there to be any enemy troops around, we will go first the rest follow, we know where the entrance is, over" I say into the holo.

Peeta looks at me and I look over to the others, we need to be as quiet as possible but without me calling out there is no way to tell the others. Slowly we make our way to the forest edge, there is just a small stretch of grass between us and the rock face. I signal the rest to crouch down and go slowly.

It seems too easy as we almost reach the small opening but then I hear what sounds like a rock falling down from above us. I look up and see Men and Women of all ages dressed in normal district clothes running down towards us, Panem's hijacked. Joanus has set a trap; he knew where the other entrance was, but how?

With no sense of danger one of the men jumps forty or 50 feet from above us and lands straight on Peeta, his arms almost a blur with his attempts to punch and hit, but although they are angered almost programmed to harm they aren't strong and he has no issues fending them off. Once Peeta has gotten to his feet he stands looking over to the man on the floor as if looking into his eyes. Time seems to slow down, the other hijacked have now caught up and are screaming as they jump into our troops. Peeta continues to stand looking at the man below him, I pull out an arrow just as the hijacked begins to get up, climbing up Peeta's legs before reaching his stomach. I am just about to let go of my arrow, horrified that Peeta may have had another flashback when he takes out a knife from the back of his belt and slams it down into the man's chest.

I have to look away as it's the first time I have seen Peeta actually kill one of the hijacked, but I am glad at the same time.

The arrow I had readied is sent into women who was running towards me on my right, had Peeta not put an end to that man's life I would have almost certainly been killed.

With the size of our group, despite the hijacked stopping at nothing to cause harm we manage to fend them off, as the numbers begin to drop some of them decide against the attack and run into the forests. Joanus' father made the districts fight each other as tributes because of a war from the past. Nothing has changed since his death, we still have to kill the people we love, our brothers and sisters our neighbours.

We all take a moment to check ourselves and each other over for any wounds, there are a few from the other squads who have been injured but as far as I can see little fatalities. Joanus must have thought that his drug would create an unstoppable army, but in reality all he has created is a slow and painful death for those who were stung by the Culakflies.

The entrance to the cave is about as unwelcoming as the one in which myself and Peeta slept in the 74th Hunger Games, damp, dark and the walls lined with insects and other creatures who have made this place a home. I begin to wonder why after all that has gone on in 13, this route hasn't been as a means of escape for people inside. I imagine it would have been a last resort, but if this is going on outside its walls it must be just as bad if not worse inside.

After a few discussions it is decided that the majority of the troops will wait outside protecting the entrance from further attacks. It will mean that we know that any ambushes will happen from in front of us, or that is what we hope.

Haymitch has taken it on himself to lead our group; the people who have been by my side since the crossing into Precia are still with us. I am not in the slightest bit uncomfortable with losing ranks to an alcoholic, for him to actually be taking part in the operation means that we have more to lose than ever before.

Celestia is waiting with the others on the outside, there is no point, having brought her so far to have her in a situation where we could lose her, whether that be captured by the Precia army or even death by ours. We don't know what is at the end of this tunnel or for that matter what is moving around us as we lightly tread along its slimy floor.

Peeta is by my side, Johanna just behind us with Fergus and Stipar at the back with Frostine, I wouldn't want to be with anyone else. These people are more than friends they are like family.

After just a few minutes the light at the entrance of the tunnel has disappeared and all we have now is small beams of light from the people who have torches. I am eager to use a flare arrow to light the way but after the tunnels under the Capitol I really don't want to find out if there is anything more than just us in here.


	23. Chapter 23

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 13

**Chaper 23**

The cave begins to bend around to the right, this puts us all on edge as we have no idea what is round the corner. Even Haymitch is beginning to slow his walk and is checking his feet almost every step of the way. "Keep close to the wall" Haymitch whispers "Why would we do that; we don't know what on them" I whisper back questioning his sanity. "One less point of attack" he mumbles.

I am not particularly happy about it but I do as asked knowing that he is right. I am trying to avoid contact as much as possible, but my foot manages to find something hard on the floor causing me to slip. I lean towards the wall and put my hands out to break the fall. They are only touching for a second but even in that short time I feel tiny feet walking all over my hands and up my arms. I begin to flail my arms around trying to dislodge whatever they are from me. Haymitch turns round and shines the touch in my face before turning it to his. "What are you trying to do Katniss? I know you're not known for being the quiet one but really, now?" he says sternly. There are not many people who would give me a telling off, even less who would actually get away with it but the tables have turned with Haymitch. Gone are the days where I would order him about, he has now grown into a great leader, so much so I could see him working for the President on a regular basis. He at least would put a real person slant on any decisions made.

I bite my lip and this prompts Peeta to brush my arms off, I can't see his face but I can feel his not so approving expression looking at me, or so what I would imagine it to look like.

As the corner begins to open back out into another straight, the flooring begins to change from mud and rocks to something harder. Haymitch shines his torch down at the ground, its metal. There are bolts every couple of feet in its surface making it even harder to keep on your feet. "What do you think this is for" I say to Peeta trying as hard as possible not to alert Haymitch. "I guess we are beginning to be in the structure of 13, it could be a passageway under there" he says.

Any chance of us moving silently in the darkness has been lost, the sound of dozens of feet banging on the metal is like someone playing a drum badly. We reach a section which is a lot narrower than what we have moved through so far, this new obstacle has us in single file with the sides of the cave almost touching us as we slide through. On the other side it almost feels like we are in a room or a building as the cave seems to turn into a cavern.

The sound of dripping water begins to be the focus of my ears, not only was it frustratingly repetitive but I was worried were it was coming from and how much of it there was. As we continue to walk the floor is now water and it's getting deeper the further we go on. At the point it reaches our knee's Haymitch calls a halt. "We need to go through a few at a time not as a group" he says. "He's right, if anything happens in the water we will all be trapped together, better if some of us wait until the others have reached the other side of whatever this is" Fergus says.

There is hardly any discussion as no one was going to tell me to wait so Peeta, Haymitch and Johanna join me and we wade through the ever deeper water. As the others go out of view the water seems to be receding, no, we are climbing. It seems strange that we are going further upwards when 13 is built underground. As we reach the top of the incline and we all group back together trying to wipe of the excess water from our boots, a bright light suddenly beams into our faces. We all pull our weapons out not knowing what we are pointing them at.

"Katniss Everdeen, well, well, well, this is perfect". The voice sounds uncomfortably familiar and not one I have very fond memories of. "I am sorry, you can't see, Private, lower the spot light" the voice adds. The beam of light moves slowly down and begins to point at our feet. My worries were right; it was one of the men who accompanied Celestia to our house.

"Where is the girl" he says. "She is safe; you didn't expect us to bring a child down here did you?" I reply. "She is a tough little thing, you would be surprised what she can do and what she can handle" he replies.

"No, she has been forced to be tough, she should have been brought up safely, her father could afford her to have a great life but he would rather use her as a tool in his plans" I say angrily.

"Fare enough Miss Everdeen, well, you are not going anywhere until we have Celesta back with us safely". The way he said safely makes me physically shiver, he was almost sniggering when he said it.

I look at Peeta and then Haymitch before a shot fires in from behind us hitting the man straight in the chest, he falls backwards out of view. I turn around, Haymitch points the flashlight and Stipar is standing behind me with smoke coming out of a sniper rifle. Before I could thank him the ground begins to shake and rocks begin falling from the roof.

"He pressed it early!" one of the men shouts before turning and running up the cave. Peeta pushes me out of the way as a huge boulder falls down and begins to shake back and forth in front of us. It is almost filling the entire area, blocking any chance we had of making our way through. "That thing is gonna roll this way" Johanna shouts.

We turn around and begin to run down the slope and back into the water just as the boulder begins to roll down the hill. I look back over my shoulder and notice it almost bouncing like a ball at first before hitting one side and sliding.

We are fighting our way through the water and reach the point where the walls are close together, we quickly scramble through. I can still see the rock moving down and as it hits the water it creates a wave which rises up coming straight towards us. "Stand either side; the water will filter through, if we get caught in that we will be taken away with it" Haymitch shouts.

The water begins to splash through the small gap in the cave like a small tap at first, before the pressure rises and it is coming through like a waterfall. We all stand looking at each other as we watch gallons of water being forced through when we hear the rock hitting the other side. The force is so great that we all fall back onto the ground. As we get to our feet the cave begins to shake. "This whole place is going to collapse… run" Peeta shouts.

Soaking wet in the pitch black we all run as fast as we can, tripping and slipping on the uneven surface below us.

I suddenly feel a terrible pain in my shoulder as part of the cave roof falls down and strikes me, I have no time to see what the damage is; I have to keep running, if I stop now the next one might be the end.

We catch up with the others and without saying anything they begin to turn and run with us. After a few seconds Frostine screams "Who we running from". I shout back "Not who, what, can't you see everything falling down" I add. As the light from the entrance of the tunnel comes in to view we are almost running alongside the water that has been winding its way out of the cave with us.

We make it out just as the entire roof breaks up and falls in blocking the entire cave, so tightly that it seals the water in. The rest of the troops who were patiently waiting are all stood pointing their weapons at us, obviously not sure who it was escaping or if anyone was following us. As we brushed ourselves down I noticed something rather worrying. Whilst we had been in the cave more of the troops had left, I could only see maybe 20.

We lean over trying to catch our breath, Haymitch sits looking down at the ground. "Strange, why do I want water so much" Johanna says jokingly. I am almost smiling when once again the ground begins to shake, only this time the forest trees begin violently swaying in front of us.

We look over just as a transporter hovercraft slowly fly's over the top coming to a halt in the air just a few hundred meters away from us, on the side the flag of Precia. There is nowhere to run or hide. It begins to gradually lower to the ground causing dust, dirt and leaves to create a fog that makes it difficult to breath. We saw how many people those things could carry in Precia, if there were half than that on board we would have no chance, outnumbered, tired and trapped.

My first thought is to look over at Haymitch, wanting some form of signal, any kind of direction so that I can rally the troops once more but there is nothing. He looks down as though he had given up already, his face no longer shows spirit, strength and resilience now it looks sapped of energy as though he had just been read his last rights. In truth he had, we all had.

As I take my focus off Haymitch my eyes fall on Peeta, like me to Haymitch he is looking for leadership. Perhaps all the speeches I have been forced to do might have somehow lead him to believe I was someone who could make tactical decisions, that would either prevent wars or at the very least save lives. He is wrong, everyone is wrong, I am just Katniss a girl thrown head first into a nightmare, plucked and preened into a symbol that was as false as Presidents Coins heartfelt message about my death. In truth all I had managed to do since the first games is cause men and women, girls and boys to lose their lives and now I have dragged along hundreds of innocent enlisted soldiers to their probable death.

"No, not like this, not now" I say to myself. As the hovercraft lands and its engines slow, the door at the back begins to open. This is my final chance to actually do something good in this world, in this war over our land. "Everyone get on the ground, ready your weapons and wait for my signal" I shout out. The command echoes throughout troops as it is communicated like a whisper in a school classroom.

The door is now almost fully lowered and the dust settled, the engines that were moments ago roaring now sound like Buttercup purring when he used to be held by Prim.

At first just one set of feet appears under the back of the aircraft, 2 military boots followed by dark black trousers, whoever was wearing them was definitely from Precia.

The sound of clicking as our troops set their rifles ready to open fire, I look across the men and women. The amount of firepower pointing towards the hovercraft is frightening, but it will pale into significance to the amount of Precia's people who will be getting off.

To my greatest fears as the first person reaches the bottom of the ramp rows and rows of military follow all holding machine guns and rocket launchers. After the first set of troops dismount they are followed by three land vehicles with huge turrets. As they leave the hovercraft they slowly turn and face us.

More and more military follow, it's almost like watching a precession, "there's too many" I think to myself, if we open fire now it will be a bloodbath and those of ours who don't get killed will be captured, prisoners of war and more than likely taken to Precia to be either hijacked or tortured.

"Katniss?" Peeta says getting closer to me; he's almost on top of me as I give out the command "Hold your fire". He looks down to the dirt beneath him perhaps thinking that was the wrong decision, but if there is one thing I have learnt in all this firing first isn't the answer.

As the last troops step off the ramp the numbers must be close to a thousand, maybe more, then every single one of them stop and stand still. My eyes are flicking from one person to the next trying to see if any of them draws their weapon's anyone of them willing to begin the fight.

It feels like a standoff after we have been looking at each other for almost five minutes, I can hear murmurs from down the line to my right, some of our troops are becoming restless. I am just about to call out to the person who seems to be in charge of the Precia military, when I hear something that makes me stop. Singing?

At first it sounded like one or two of them were becoming impatient like some of our troops, wanting to get it over with, but then it grew to ten, then a hundred. As the amount grew and the sound got louder it became clear what they were singing - The hanging tree. Like an ocean wave crashing onto shore, the sound got louder and louder as one after another all the Precia people began singing and raising their arms to salute.

"This could be a trap Katniss" Peeta says as he is leaning towards my ear, but it is enough for me to stand up. "Hold your fire" I say once more. I begin to walk across what had been a temporary no man's land towards the group. I look back and see Haymitch glaring at me, but within an instant I became as assured as I have ever been as he nods his head approvingly.

It doesn't take long to get close enough to them to see their faces, if I am going to be shot at least it will be over quickly with the amount of bullets they have.

"Miss Everdeen" A man shouts at the front of the group. "I am General Hilaka, Precia's first military core - 4th in command to Joanus Snow. I have been ordered to infiltrate your group and stop your advance on 13" he said.

"Why sing that song, give us that salute if you're going to kill us" I reply, suddenly not as confident as I was moments ago.

"Your message, what you said about Joanus, what he did with his daughter, I am not going to take orders from someone like that. No, we are here to fight but not against you Miss Everdeen" he bows his head in front of me. "Miss Everdeen, we are waiting your orders".

For me being speechless is almost impossible but I am fighting a lump that is desperate to get up from my throat. My words, they actually did something good, it's already saved thousands of lives here on this field. "Thank you General Hilaka" I say. "Miss Everdeen, please, call me Treanas" he says holding out his hand. I quickly accept the offer for handshake and turn to our troops all with their weapons pointing in my direction.

I press the holo not wanting to wait until I have walked back over to the group. "This is Katniss Everdeen, put down your weapons, they are with us!" I say.

As I begin to walk back Treanas rushes to my side "What next then, any plans?" he says. "Yes I have a plan but I am only going to take a few troops with me, just the sight of all of you with us on the outside should be enough to tip the balance on whatever is happening inside" I reply.

"Cressida this is Katniss, requesting extraction from 13, firing flare in 20 seconds" I say into the holo. Having counted down in my head I lift my arrow with the flare and fire it into the sky. It almost whistles as it reaches its ignition point and a bright red bulb like a firework falls gracefully down.

"Roger that Katniss, on my way" Cressida says back through the holo.

As I reach our troops near the edge of the cave Haymitch seems to have got his bravery back.

"We all going in then?" he says as though we now have the firepower to stay alive. "No, I have called Cressida. I am taking only 12. We are going to fly in through the launch station at the back, then go up the elevator until we find them" I reply.

"What then?" Peeta says. "Spare as many lives as you can, I want Joanus alive" I say. I want to know what he was planning to do if he had taken over Panem. Was it simply for revenge for his father's death or did he have an underlying plan.

It doesn't take long for Cressida's hovercraft to circle in and land. Gently lowering down next to the Precia craft, in comparison the District 13 craft looks tiny like a cat next to a lion; but it's almost a second home for me now and I would much rather be next to a cat than a lion. As it comes to rest Cressida jumps off the back of the lowering cargo door before it had actually touched the ground. She quickly makes her way over to us, through all of our new found allies.

"Katniss, I am so glad you're ok, we were worried when we heard the explosions in the tunnel" Cressida says. "I still don't understand why Paylor sent us in that way, why not through the aircraft launch area" I reply. Haymitch looks over to Cressida as though preventing her from answering my question. It's done now, there is no alternative but to go in through the only way possible. It won't be easy with the amount of ammunition, missiles and bombs in there, one error in judgement or a rogue Precia soldier trying to make a name for himself could bring down 13 completely.

Peeta comes and stands between myself and Cressida allowing for a quick smile in her direction.

"Who do you want to go in with you then?" he says. Cressida jumps in "you can put me down; you are not going in there without me" she says.

"Thank you Cressida, I was hoping you would join me Peeta, you know being my fiancé and all" I say grinning. "Of course, I just wanted to make sure you wanted me and also it's what ranks are for in the army, you say we listen" he replies.

Despite the uncertain situation I didn't really need to ask anyone, they all wanted to be a part of this mission even people who I had never seen or spoken to. One person was a little more reluctant which surprised me, Fergus, for a short while it seemed he was trying to make himself invisible, hiding behind others but after a long stare he joined me and accepted.

My crew, in an attempt to take back 13 and end this war forever was Peeta, Johanna, Fergus, Cressida, Frostine, Haymitch, Stipar. From Precia Hilaka and a man calling himself Debver, a strange very underweight looking man although Hilaka says he is brilliant at getting into areas undetected. Finally, two ladies from the Panem military who were standing around when I began talking about the mission. They almost bit my hand off when I asked them their names; Fay and Evar.

We board the hovercraft and buckle ourselves in; it will only be a few minutes before we enter the launch bay, not enough time for people to think about what could happen, but also not enough time for Joanus' men to prepare.


	24. Chapter 24

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 13

**Chaper 24**

We rise up and almost immediately begin moving forward, the side of the rocks that 13 is built under are perilously close. I am advised by Cressida this is to prevent detection by anyone who has tapped into the radar system. That may be, but it is very unsettling moving so quickly next to thousands of tonnes of rock.

I quickly look around the cargo bay at the people who have put their lives on the line for me, they are my friends. I hardly know the guys from Precia and the two ladies almost snuck on board, but if we get through this every one of them deserves peace for the rest of their lives.

We fly through the opening in the side of the mountain before quickly turning round to land. I am almost pleased to see this place even though it was where I had learned so much about the rules in war. The fact that there aren't any if it prevents an end goal of a mission. Landing was safely done and I am surprised we haven't got a welcoming party, not from people of 13 but of the enemy.

As I walk through the great hall I notice that since my last visit here many of the bombs and explosives have gone. "This place looks a little empty, has some of it been relocated?" I say to Cressida. "I am afraid not, it's been used. The battle hasn't just been here in 13. It's been over 3,5,7,8 and 12. We are not losing the war Katniss but in the same breath we aren't winning either" she replies.

We climb into the elevator at floor 9 the command floor and close the cage door down to begin our decent. I am not entirely sure where we should be going but I think to myself that Joanus would target anywhere with authority so we press the floor button for Command. As we go down floor by floor I notice that it is eerily quiet the only noise coming from the wires holding the cage we are standing in. We go down fifteen floors and everything looks exactly how I left it, in fact it seems a lot cleaner than I remember.

Haymitch slides the cage door up and we all get off at the command floor, this area looks different I can smell gunpowder in the air and some of the tiles on the wall has been broken off. On closer inspection clear bullet holes are scattered around causing a once bright white corridor to be a maze of cracks. Before I can say anything to the others a small can like object bounces down the corridor, I didn't see where it came from but as it gets closer it begins to roll on its side. "Get down" Fergus shouts. It was too late, as we begin to turn and drop to the ground the force of the blast hits all of us. We are flung across the floor as though it was made of ice. The windows in the rooms either side shatter and it begins to rain shards of knife like glass.

A scream comes from behind me, I look round as the bits of roofing and tiles fall from the ceiling to see one of the Panem troops, Fay looking down at her leg. A huge piece of metal from one of the doors is imbedded in her just above the foot. I can barely look as Frostine slides over to her to look at it. As she does I notice blood trickling down from the back of Frostine's head.

"Does anyone else have injuries" I shout out failing to check to see if I had any myself, the response was that it seemed that we may have been lucky and only two of us had been caught by the blast and shrapnel. I quickly turn back in the direction the explosive came from. "Haymitch, check on those two, the rest of you follow me". I pull out an arrow and ready it, this prompts the others to take off their safeties on their rifles and handguns. I have only taken one step forward when a man jumps from a doorway on the right just a few feet away. I wasn't sure how I would react being in 13, would I be able to fire my arrows in here in the fear I might kill a civilian. Instinct took over and the arrow hits the man straight in the middle of the chest. He falls to ground in a harrowing cry and out of his hand drops a hand gun. I now know that this won't be an easy task and almost anything that moves could be a second away from killing me.

We move as a group protecting each other and without me prompting Peeta joins my right side, Johanna takes the left Fergus and Stipar behind covering. The further we walk down the corridors the less this place looks like 13. When I left it resembled a hospital with its walls, ceilings and floors in almost spotless condition. Now it looks like a demolition site the only thing intact are the floors and even those look weakened with what seems to be blast damage. Every once in a while I take a quick look behind us hoping to see Haymitch and Frostine catching up but they are nowhere to be seen. Frostine's injury must have been worse than I had initially thought.

We take a left turning which leads to the main communications area, we are not alone. As we enter bullets begin to rain in. We quickly duck back round to take cover, getting as low to the ground as we can without actually lying down. I can see Peeta sweating obviously trying so hard to keep control off himself, his thoughts. I feel a tap on my shoulder and look round, its Fergus, he's holding a grenade. It doesn't seem the best of ideas; I mean this place is being ripped apart from the inside any explosions surely will contribute to the structure being damaged.

Before I get chance to query his decision he leans around the corner and throws it in low along the ground, in the direction of where the shots were fired. Another explosion and more shudders to the floor and glass falling from the windows. I slowly peer around the corner; Fergus must have wiped them out as I see 4 legs just lying there on the floor in the doorway to the comms room. I begin to start questioning myself, why did we come here, why didn't we just go down to the shelters on the basement floor to get the children. My brain must be controlling me now as I move around and begin walking towards the lifeless legs. I look down as I reach them and have to cover my mouth. Their bodies charred and twisted by the impact of the explosion. Stepping over them I look up, the communication room, where I was told what to do by Coin.

The display equipment on the walls is smashed up and someone has scrawled "You never learn" in what looks like red paint on some of the glass that actually is still in place. On another wall the Mockingjay symbol had been drawn with flames all over it. The table has bits of metal and broken tiles on top of it and all the chairs have been pushed into the corner. Five men lay dead on the floor around us. Then it dawns on me.

This was a setup, they wanted me to see this. The Mockingjay symbol was drawn with great detail, it would have taken a long time for it to look that good, if there was a war going on especially in 13 itself how would they have time to do it.

"We need to get to command" Peeta says. I nod my head and look around at the others. Johanna just stares back at me and doesn't say a word. Stipar raises his gun up and puts his thumb up. Then I look at Fergus he looks worried, I have never seen him look this bad. He normally shows no fear in any situation, maybe it's knowing that he might come face to face with his former ruler's son?

"We'll take the stairs, it's too dangerous in the elevator" I say. As we walk back out to continue deeper into the maze of corridors Haymitch reappears; without Frostine. "Fay didn't make it, I'm sorry Katniss. Frostine has been banged up pretty bad so I have told the others to wait with her until we come back" he says. "We're not going back that way, at least not yet, we need Evar, Cressida and Hilaka at least" I reply pressing the communicator in my ear. "This is Katniss, Frostine please advise and direct Hilaka and Evar to meet us at the comms room, the rest of the others can wait with you" I say.

"Hilaka, like Celestia could be a decider in this, if Joanus sees that one of his main commanders has defected to us he might just give up" I say to the group. Johanna moves around with her arms crossed. "Whatever you are going to do Katniss can we just do it already, the longer we stand around here the easier target we are" she demands.

We continue the walk through the corridors, bodies of district 13 people are scattered around the floor. Some lying next to Precia military, some sitting in chairs as if they had no idea that there was an assault going on. It is impossible to check every single one but I can see that none of them is my mother or the children; they hopefully will be safe at the very bowl of this place.

We reach the stairs without any further attacks and one by one we get ready for the walk down. These stairs frighten me so much and as I take the first step I have a flash back to when the Capitol bombed us and I lost Prim, that stupid cat I think to myself. Strangely compared to the communications floor the stairs look relatively untouched, there are very little bullet holes in the walls and more importantly no bodies as we make our way down. It doesn't take us long to reach the command floor. I know that this will be where we meet the biggest conflict, Joanus would want to take control of this room as quickly as possible when he invaded my worry is if he has control where is Paylor and is she is alive.

We push open the large solid metal door and walk through. Its silent, nothing seems to have been down here at all, maybe 13 fought them off and still have this floor. I take one step forward and hear a clicking noise. Hilaka continues walking and passes in front of us. He must hear the noise too; it isn't just my head playing tricks on me as he begins to look around. The clicking begins to get louder as I notice it appears to be coming from the ceiling. I look up just as a spider the size of an orange drops down onto Hilaka's neck. He shouts in agony straight away and falls to the floor onto his knees. Peeta rushes over to assist him. We watch as they both frantically attempt to remove it.

I walk round to see if I can do anything and notice Hilaka's face, its white his eyes almost completely red and I know too well what that means, then as Peeta manages to get it off he falls face first onto the floor. The spider begins to run across the floor towards the others. Fergus quickly stamps on it and it shatters into hundreds of small pieces of metal. Peeta grabs Hilaka and turns him over; he has stopped breathing and looks like a ghost. "It's poisoned him with something". Peeta says. "A huge dose of morphling" Fergus says standing watching. "I have seen it used in the Capitol, Snow used it on people he, let's just say, didn't get along with" he adds.

"Is he dead?" I reply. "With the length of time he had that thing on his back it would have been enough to kill 3 men. I can't believe they have managed to get it into something that small" Fergus says.

As he finishes his sentence we begin to hear the same clicking noise coming from down the corridor, the sound of 8 tiny legs running over ceramic tiles, it feels like a nightmare and I am scared that it will join me in my sleep for ever. We know what we are looking for it shouldn't be too difficult to stop them the only problem is they are so small and in such a small space we need to be able to have time to act. The noise begins to get louder and quicker, we all stand looking around our surroundings as we see a black mass coming towards us along the floor.

"What is that?" Peeta says squinting to get a better look. "Spiders and there's more than one" I shout pulling him back, taking an arrow from my quiver; the best option would be to set them all on fire and hope they haven't been tested in the heat. I fire it low so that it falls just in front of them, the arrow skims across the floor and hits the mass of metal right in the middle. A squealing sound like a fox looking for a mate at night fills the corridor only it isn't short sharp bursts is agonisingly long and being made by more than one. As I cover my ears I look eagerly to see if my hasty plan had worked. It had in some respects as the number of the vile mechanical creatures is reduced.

Some make it out still on fire but managing to scuttle their way towards us, one or two of them untouched by the fireball from the arrow.

Peeta pulls out his sidearm and points it at the remaining creatures. He is just about to pull the trigger when machine gun fire comes from just behind us. The spiders begin flying all over the place with bits of legs and body structures falling off. A dark yellow liquid, morphling, begins seeping out and creates a pool on the floor. We turn round as Cressida lowers the machine gun.

The look on my face must have been something; I have never known Cressida lift more than a camera in the time I have known her apart from our escape from the sewers in the Capitol. "Where did you learn to shoot like that" I exclaim. "Oh had a lot of time in training, like the folks out there. Paylor ordered it just in case I was shot down behind enemy lines. Just didn't think those lines would be in here" she replies. In the excitement in seeing her again we hadn't noticed another spider mutt crawling along the wall.

In the corner of my eye I watch it jump onto Johanna's arm, I throw myself at her, in her eyes it must have seemed like I had lost my mind, like I had finally flipped. In fact, her expression was somewhat of fright as we both fall to the ground. "What are you doing you crazy woman" she screams at me. I brush my hand down her arm and feel the cold metal, before I can get it off a quick sharp pain runs into my hand, its injecting me. I feel the arms of someone pulling me off, its Haymitch, I am already feeling drowsy in just a short time. "Get it off me" I shout waving my hand around. Peeta quickly grabs my hand and bashes it against the wall.

The spider falls off but begins to crawl along the floor until it reaches the bottom of Haymitch's boot. "Still the best way to get rid of vermin, don't need all your flashy explosives, just the bottom of your boot does the trick" he says.

By the time I have found the floor the room is spinning and everyone's faces are blurring into one. I can hear people talking but its sounds like they are all inside a tin can. I have to close my eyes just for a few minutes.

I wake up with a jump and frantically look around everyone before looking down at my arm, a needle around 4 inches long is being pulled out of me. Who would do such a thing I think to myself as my eyes follow the hand up to the face. To my delight complete with bandage around her head Frostine's face is grinning back at me. "Seems like we have both been lucky girls today eh Katniss!? You'll be ok, just a good job I thought to bring more medical supplies from the surgery floor. Just take a few moments and the morphling will be reversed, just wished I could say the same about Hilaka" she says.

She gets up and the bright light darkens again as Peeta crouches down in front of me "You had us going for a bit there, we weren't sure if you were helping Johanna or attacking her" he says. "Wouldn't put it past you, madam, I know we don't always see eye to eye" Johanna adds. I try to reply but all my words combine into an inaudible mess.

"That will wear off in a few moments" Frostine says. "Does it really have to; you know she's making the most sense I have ever heard from her" Haymitch adds laughing.

"Its clear right to the command room, no more of those things and no one in sight" Fergus shouts as he runs back from the bottom end of the corridor.

"Could you see anyone in there, Paylor, Beetee" Haymitch replies. "No one in view although it's pretty smashed up in there, can't see through the windows for some reason" Fergus says.

I push myself up using the wall as a balance and manage to get back to my feet, everything is still a little shaky but I can now make out what I am looking at and who is speaking. Peeta hands me a flask of water and I take several long gulps.

"You ok now" Frostine says putting the palm of her hand on my head. "Yeah, good as new" I reply. I begin walking down towards command initially on my own, the others seemingly amazed by my quick recovery when Fergus runs up to me. "Katniss, Paylor is in there she wants to speak to you alone, I couldn't tell you in front of the others" he says. "Why, is she ok? Why is she still in there" I reply? Fergus looks at me blankly and shrugs his shoulders.

We reach the door of the command room, the windows have been blanked out, this was normal practice especially when 13 went into lockdown for whatever reason, it was also used when very high profile meetings took place that decided the future of the district and its armies.

I turn around to look at the others, all standing waiting for what I ask but this time I have to do it alone. "I am going in on my own, the rest of you take cover and wait. If I don't come out in 5 minutes' head down to the basement floor, get my children and my mother and get out of here" I command.

"Katniss? I am not letting you go in there without me, what if Paylor's being held hostage, how do you know their military isn't just waiting for you" Peeta says.

I glance over to Fergus who is looking back worried, he like the rest of the group must be thinking the worst. "I will be ok, If the Mockingjay is going out, she will go out with a bang" I reply. "Peeta please find the children, get them out, remember what I said, where to go" I say placing my hands on Peeta's face. He doesn't say anything just nods back reluctantly.

I turn and face the door waiting for everyone to get out of sight and especially out of range from any explosion or weapon fire. As I slide the door back I brace myself expecting the worst. Nothing happens, the door opens fully and I walk in.

My first reaction was to immediately look at the drawings on the large display board, the one that was used to explain to Coin who I was by Haymitch, none of them made any sense they seemed to just display districts of Panem. In my momentary lack of concentration, I failed to notice the door I had just come through, roll shut and lock. I quickly turn around and pull on the handle, it won't budge; and then I hear the most terrifying sound, something that makes my hairs stand up on my neck and hands.

"Katniss, welcome home"

It's Joanus and I am locked in a room with him, I turn around quickly my eyes move up his body to his face. He's smiling in an almost satisfied, victorious manor and in his hand a gun pointing straight at my head.


	25. Chapter 25

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 16

**Chaper 25**

In my mind I have already reached for my bow and fired an arrow bringing down Joanus but in my reality I know that should I even move my hand towards it I will be dead.

"Please sit" Joanus says waving his hand in the direction of a chair, a twist of fate it's the chair I spoke to Coin and Plutarch the most in, where most of the decisions on how they would use me to bring down the Capitol. Now it's the seat I will use to decide my own fate.

I slowly and purposefully sit down and stare back. Joanus isn't how I expected, I imagined him to be a man dressed top to toe in the most expensive of clothing, a man who would only accept the best for his appearance. I also thought he would be bigger in both height and build. In fact he looks like anyone, yes his clothes are more than the average resident of Panem could afford but nothing to those that the Capitol's people wore. How old he was never really crossed my mind but although he must be aging, he still looks quite young; perhaps medical treatments have slowed the effect on his skin.

"I apologise for the rather unwelcoming defences we had to set up, those tiny things give me the creeps, but" he walks around the room for a moment in silence before sitting down in to the side of me, exactly where Coin used to sit.

"You have to realise that I had to take some precautions, I knew you would be able to circumvent such a primitive distraction such as poisonous spiders, after all you won two Hunger Games" he pauses "Oh, in fact you didn't win any of them did you, you won by default, cheated in fact" he adds.

I am almost physically biting my tongue trying not to pounce verbally on his tirade of statements, so far they are true but that doesn't stop my argumentative nature rising to the surface.

Joanus lowers his hand and lays the gun on the table next to him. He then places both hands down on the desk as if he was drawing some kind of energy from it. "Now, enough of the pointless niceties. You must be wondering why I am here" he says.

I nod my head in agreement, I am hoping that knowing why he is here isn't the only information I will be getting out of this hostage situation.

"Cat got your tongue? How is the cat by the way" he says grinning? "Come on Katniss, there is no point in this meeting if you don't talk; I mean it takes at least two people talking to have a discussion" he adds.

I raise my eyes so that they are as still as possible in an attempt to strike at least some fear into his thoughts. "You haven't answered your own question yet, why are you here" I say.

"Good, right, I am here for the reason's I said right at the beginning. Panem needs leadership, one that knows exactly how to keep things going, exactly how systems, authority, delegation and most of all ruling work. Now clearly the so called President Paylor has no idea, you only have to look at the districts to see how badly things are going" he says raising himself back up out of the chair. In one split second I noticed he had forgotten about his gun, but my eyes glancing over to it prompted him to pick it back up and holster it which he did so laughing quietly.

"The arena, you and your people broke into was to train soldiers. You must know more than anyone that people with hearts do not make good fighters. I mean your friend Gale was a fighter wasn't he?" He says.

I feel a switch inside my body flick and I have to stop myself from jumping over the table. "Don't bring Gale into this; you know what happened at your father's mansion. It was Coin who ordered the bombing" I shout back. Joanus tilts his head to one side in almost agreement and sits back down.

"People with hearts don't make good fighters, all those children were at the gates as my father knew that the rebels, that you wouldn't fire on the innocent. Coin didn't have a heart but she only used the weapon that your friend created. Having a capitol bomber from District 2 was all she was missing in her plans. The worst thing about all of this, not only did you leave my father to be killed you assassinated probably the only other person to lead Panem forward" Joanus says.

"Paylor should have never been elected she didn't know the truth" he says getting up from his chair once more. This time rather than coming to stand over me he goes over to a desk near the screen and picks up a folder. He walks back over and drops it on the table. "Didn't know the truth about what?" I say as it slides over in front of me.

"It's a lot to digest I know Katniss and I am not for one minute asking you to read it all, but perhaps just have a glance and I will fill you in" he says.

The folder is brown as though it has been in the sun for years and has faded, there are many scribbles over it all of which have been crossed out so that the writing is unreadable but one thing that hasn't and almost leaps out from the cover are the words.

"_The Nation of Panem Presidential Mandate"_

"_For official use and eyes only"_

"_Statim regulas sequi simper__"_

"_I will always abide by the rules forthwith" Joanus says as I read the cover. "It's Latin a very old but decisive language" he adds. I open the cover and begin to read the first page. Control, Law, War, Districts are some of the words that immediately jump into my view._

"Let me explain Katniss, since even before dark days this Nation had more problems than you can imagine. Famine, Political, civil and international war, drugs, disease, poverty I could go on. To put it short this Nation that you live in almost destroyed itself to the point where life as we know was wiped out. The documents that you are reading have been passed down from President to President to stop that from ever happening again. There are other Nations on this earth across the seas that operate the same values, the same rules that are in this" he says.

"This document is a way of preserving life through structure and control. My father made it clear that The Hunger Games were not just to keep people in line, but to create solidarity of those districts. Everyone had a job and one that they did well" he adds.

"I don't understand, why a Hunger Games why children" I say as confused as I have ever been in my life.

"When you are young you have very little fear, have you ever jumped down from a high rock without a thought? Have you ever stolen something? Have you ever broken out of your district through an electric fence?" He begins to laugh again. "Children tend not to think of the dangers of anything, as you get older you have more things to worry about. The Children that were in the games were brave if a little naive. That was Katniss until you" he says.

I am trying extremely hard to blank out what he is saying to me, it is making far too much sense and I don't like it.

"You not only volunteered but you showed heart in the games, you reluctantly killed Marvel and you defied the system with those berries. That set the wheels in motion causing the districts, the people, to believe that there is another way of life and that they too could break the rules" he adds.

"I wanted to protect my sister that's why I volunteered not to cause all of the rebellion, the people of Panem created it, District 13 created the Mockingjay" I reply abruptly.

"You had a heart Katniss, so why is it you were selected to be the Mockingjay, to be the leader for the rebellion and now a soldier, a fighter" he replies.

A loud thump comes from the sliding door behind me and I can hear Peeta. "Katniss! Katniss open the door" he shouts. Joanus begins to look anxious for the first time and quickly grabs the folder from in front of me.

"I will say this; you have made the people of Panem think about themselves; about their districts more than Panem itself. In the past when this happened it caused wars between areas who thought they would be better off with more. Your actions Katniss has caused a fire sale and the people of the districts, the offspring of the Mockingjay will want more than they have now, it will go on and on" he says. "If this were to continue, it wouldn't be a tiny country like Precia, no, the giants across the ocean would be here and not to shake hands" he adds.

Joanus pulls out his gun again but doesn't point it at me "I was never going to kill you Katniss; I put out orders to every soldier in my control that I wanted you alive, alive for this conversation. There will be calls for you to become president after all this, you just have to make the right decision for yourself and your family" he adds as he pushes his chair under the table. "Where does Celestia come into this, you left her to die?" I reply. Joanus just smiles and winks "You have a heart Katniss; I knew you would save her, but my dear Miss Everdeen are you a soldier? I certainly didn't expect you to bring her to me though but then my former home has been destroyed I suppose".

He turns away from me and begins to walk to the back of the room, this gives me enough time to pull out my bow as I am bringing it up to my face a huge explosion forces me forward and off my chair. I am almost knocked out from the blast as my body slides across the floor. I feel a hand on my arm and then I am being pulled upwards. "Katniss are you alright" Peeta shouts with his face just a few inches away from mine.

I push him away and raise my bow but Joanus is not there "Joanus? Where is he?" I say looking back at Peeta.

Haymitch and Johanna climb their way into the room over the now destroyed door and look at me with worried expressions on their faces.

"He got away, Joanus was here with me, he got away" I say with the sound of the explosion still ringing in my ears. Then we all turn round as we hear a gun shot from the corridor at the back of the room.

Before anyone has the time to question what I was doing or what was said I am rushing towards the doorway. The room is still filled with dust from the blast, as I clamber through the desks and chairs I get through and turn to where the sound came from and see President Paylor lying hunched up against the wall holding her stomach.

As I reach her it's clear that the gunshot was at her and there would only be one person responsible, Joanus. I lean down to see how bad she is "Don't worry Katniss, it's going to be ok now" she says into my ear. I look at her as Peeta and the others catch up with me. "It's all over now, I am so, so sorry you had to go through all of that" she adds.

"It's your time now Katniss, make sure you say yes for the sake of Panem" she says. "Say yes to what" I reply as her eyelids close and her arms become limp. I am pushed aside as Frostine takes over and begins trying to resuscitate her. Haymitch looks at me confused "What did she mean?" He says. With all the information I have just been fed whether it is true or just lies I can't tell him what it means. Paylor knows that now I will be elected president of Panem whether I want to be or not. I stand up and move away. "I don't know but we have to get to the basement, it is the only thing I can think of and it's the only place I want to go" I demand.

I am almost at the elevator when the others have worked out that I have left them, I turn round to see them all rushing to keep up with me. Frostine's hands are covered in dark red blood, she looks distraught "She lost too much blood; the bullet wound must have punctured her lung as well as severe internal damage. What are we going to do?" she says and begins crying.

"We find any survivors and get out of here, where's Fergus!" I reply. I get blank expressions from all but Haymitch. "He went ahead, said he would begin an attempt on the basement, we haven't seen him since but it doesn't look good" he says. "I am sure he will be fine, probably a lot better off than we will" I reply. Haymitch begins to look interested by my comments but I can't tell him now that I think Fergus has been a spy for Joanus all along, perhaps its coincidence, perhaps Paylor was in that room before I walked in.

"We will have to go down in two groups. Peeta, Haymitch, Stipar and Cressida you come with me. I will send the elevator back up for the rest of you, if it doesn't try the stairs" I say. We step into the cage and I press the elevator down button while sliding the door shut.

From our position on the Command floor the basement is just a few floors down but as we descend the sound of gun fire becomes louder and louder, it seems the war of Panem has made its way to the bottom of District 13.

The basement area hardly ever got used and was only built to house the inhabitants of 13 when the rest of the structure was either being repaired, upgraded or attacked. Despite it being built many years ago and the equipment being a mixture of old and new intricately bound together, it is still regarded as Panem's greatest accomplishment. The reason, it was built by people who had no real tools or ability, people who had been forced into hiding away from the Capitol to live a life in the ground and ultimately to rise against its rulers.

Just as the basement begins to appear below us the usually dimly lit surroundings are bathed in bright white lights. I begin to move my head forward to try and see what is happening only to quickly duck as bullet after bullet hits the metal shell of the elevator cage.

We all crouch as far back as we can so much that we are almost on top of each other; then I have an idea. We needed a distraction so remembering what Beetee said I pull out a smoke arrow and fire it down below. I can't see where it went but as the elevator comes to a standstill all that can been seen is smoke.

"Beetee didn't think to give us masks or at least night vision" Johanna says.

We managed to exit the elevator with no further gun fire but I know our cover won't last long so I prompt everyone to draw their weapons. As we begin to walk through the smoke I created every step is hazardous not knowing if we would come across a Precia Military troop but it wouldn't be long before I would get an answer. Stipar who had begun to wander slightly out of our group, crouching whilst walking and the strange posture attracted everyone's attention. As he took a step forward a man from a side room jumped towards him with a knife, Precia Military. Fighting to force the man off him Stipar had managed to free up his rifle firing a single shot into his chest at point blank range. No blood, no screaming the man just slipped down to the floor. Unshaken Stipar looks across "Think it might be an idea to get on the floor, just until we are through this" he says.

We continue to make our way to where we think the main corridor is to lead us into the sleeping and living areas Stipar's idea was very good as we now had a small bubble like area where the smoke seemed not to fall to.

We come out the other side to be greeted by three Precia men, only they weren't actually pleased to see us. Immediately they all opened fire, our reactions were quick as we all dived left and right to cover, but not so much for Stipar. Lying next to me I can see at least three bullet holes in his jacket to his upper right arm. He doesn't actually seem to notice at first until he catches me looking at it and puts his hand on the wound. Stipar turning his hand over to inspect the blood before wiping it down his leg. "Just a scratch, I'm made of more than that" he says. I am not sure if he is telling the truth, he isn't in pain or whether the adrenaline is pumping so quickly around his body that he can't tell.

He rolls over onto his stomach and begins firing his rifle at the men, Peeta and Cressida follow suit and in just a few seconds all three men are lying dead on the floor.

"We aren't going to get very far if we continue at this rate" Haymitch shouts from the other side of the corridor. He's right, by the time we reach the living area it might be too late. We all stand up and reform the group weapons out and ready, just two more corners and we will be there.

We make the right into the medical area, which seems to have been totally destroyed; tables, glass, electrical equipment, medicine all over the floor on both sides of the corridor. "Contact" Peeta shouts beginning to fire his gun. I have no idea what we are shooting at or where, but I begin firing my arrows down towards where Peeta pointed.

The rattle of bullets hitting the walls next to my head almost begins to become a normal sound, I don't care if any of them hit me, if I don't make it now at least some of us will get to the children to save them. I count nine Precia Military that fall down in front of us, but as I turn to our group Stipar is lying motionless by my feet. I know he's dead, the three bullets in his arm have been accompanied by two in his neck and many in his chest. Cressida rushes over to me to pull me away from his body, my only thought is to whisper "Thank you for everything Stipar" before allowing her grasp to free me from my gaze.

"Katniss, fire an incendiary down there" Haymitch shouts pointing to the very last room. Without thought I pull out the arrow and fire it straight into the room. It lights up like a Furness straight away causing a ball of flames to come bulging out through its doorway. "Come on!" Peeta shouts. We begin running down past the room. As we do I begin to smell something that makes me feel sick, burning flesh. I try not to look but something in my brain forces my head in that direction, the room is filled with Precia's men and women and they are all on fire, arms, legs, faces burning right in front of me. Do I really have a heart, who would do such a thing to so many people? Peeta pushed my face away but the damage has already been done, perhaps I am just like those soldiers' a thoughtless weapon sent to kill.

We turn the final corner and head towards the main sleeping area door. Its closed which hopefully means everyone inside is safe.

I press my holo earpiece still in shock from what I have just seen. "This is Katniss Everdeen; open the lockdown door the area is clear outside". Cressida and Johanna are bent over desperately trying to breath. Haymitch just stands with his hand on the large metal door. Peeta by my side still checking that I am ok with his eyes. We wait a minute, the door doesn't open and no one replies on the holo.

"District 13, this is Katniss, open the dormitory lockdown door immediately" I shout back down the communicator. As I finish the sentence the door slowly begins to slide across. Impatiently I squeeze my body though the increasing gap and a doctor stops me on the other side. "Miss Everdeen, I am so glad you are here, is it true is it ok out there" he says.

I nod my head "It's clear, we have cleared the area, any Precia military left will be long gone by now" I reply as I begin walking fast towards the beds.

"Miss Everdeen" he says in a frantic voice; I turn around to look at him whilst still walking. "Miss Everdeen, there is something you should know" he says, his voice beginning to turn into worry. His comment and the way he said it makes me stop instantly. "What's wrong, my children they're ok aren't they" I reply almost shouting at the poor man. "Yes, they are fine" he says before rubbing his forehead with a small white cloth.

"Then what!" I say. "I am afraid your Mother, she, she got injured in some of the shooting" he replies. My body is reacting in a way only mine can, I am always ready for the worst, and it's used to it now. "She's stable at the moment but we weren't able to carry out surgery on her. The medical floor was one of the first taken by Precia. I am sorry Miss Everdeen. The wounds from the bombing weren't healed and there are many complications. I am afraid she is in a very bad way; she has done remarkably well to fight it so long" he says.

I look at him trying once again not to show my emotions "We can't promise anything but now we might be able to get back upstairs we can try a few things on her, I'll get the team together see what we can do" he adds.

We walk round through the maze of beds and I am lead to where Prim, Mother and I stayed whilst the Capitol was bombing. There standing at the bottom playing with Buttercup is Rye and Willow. As if they knew I had come they both turn around towards me. "Mom" Rye shouts with his arms up in the air. Willow begins to stumble but manages to put a few steps together before falling back down. Before I can say anything back Rye has jumped up and is desperately trying to climb his way up my body to my face. I feel his lips on my cheek and almost everything is good again. Peeta goes over and picks Willow up lifting her in the air like a trophy he had just won, before swinging her round and hugging her.

"Daddy" Rye screams trying to pull him towards us creating a human bridge for both children to move between. My world, everything I need is right here, this moment, this second pushes out any anger I had and fills it with the greatest feeling, love. Then Rye makes me remember someone that's missing.

"Grandma, she saved us but now she's not very well" he says pointing over to a bed a few steps down. Reluctantly and fearing for the worse I slowly walk over and look.

She's lying with a thick grey cover pulled right up under her chin, her eyes closed as though she had been sleeping for days. She looks peaceful, content, no grazes or injuries on her face. "Peeta" I say dropping Rye down to the floor. "Go to Daddy for a moment, he wants to know everything you have been doing while we have been away" I say to Rye.

I quietly lower myself on to the bed by Mothers feet and place my hand on her stomach. She opens her eyes but seems to struggle to keep them open "Katniss, my dear" she begins to smile. "Come closer, I am so happy you are ok" she says trying to bring her arms up to touch me.

I lean down and kiss her forehead; she feels quite cold but seems to have some sort of fever as I feel moisture on my lips. As I pull away I can see her struggling to try and see if I am actually ok, her half closed eyes scanning me from my hair to my waist.

"Rye says you saved them?" I say quietly.

"Oh she definitely did that, she dove in front of the children right in front of a Precia Soldier, she took all of the blast. Had she not been there then —" The doctor says. I turn around and look up to him, hoping for him to do something to make her better.

"Miss Everdeen, we need to take her now" he says pulling the cover away. I try not to but my eyes look down her body. She is wearing a white nightgown and it's completely clean not one single stain on it. I know that she must be bandaged up underneath but I can't help thinking that it's just minor and a few days in the medical bay she will be fine, just like I was.

A few other medics begin to move round, two holding a stretcher and one by one they gather her up before resting her down and lift her away.

As they disappear down the room Peeta comes back across with the children. "Here could you take them a moment; I need to do something" he says passing Willow over to me.

I fall back on the bed mother had just been sleeping in, Willow by my side, Rye climbs up and the three of us look up at the ceiling. "Is everything going to be ok now Mother?" Rye whispers. "I hope so" I say closing my eyes.


	26. Chapter 26

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 11

**Chaper 26**

I wake and my first reaction is to feel around the bed to find the children, they are both gone I gradually open my eyes and Peeta is stood above me. I sit upright and look around; there is hardly anyone in here. "What's happened, where has everyone gone" I say to Peeta rubbing my eyes.

"It's ok Katniss, you have been asleep for a whole day, I kept checking on you but I didn't want to wake you, you obviously needed the rest" he says brushing the hair away from my face. "The children are upstairs, the people here are already clearing the place up, it almost looks normal, well as normal as it could be" he adds.

Pushing the covers away I slide myself around so that my feet rest on the floor. I suddenly realise that Peeta isn't wearing his uniform anymore, instead he is wearing what seems to be a cross between the normal 13 attire and something Effie would have dreamt up. A grey sweater with a dark blue zip running down its side and black pants which seemed to have some form of white lining. Peeta realising I was checking out his new clothes leans across to another bed and hands me a bag "Here' Effie thought you might want to get out of those clothes into something a little less military" he says. I open the bag, push my hand in and begin to pull out its contents. "Effie eh?" I say slightly apprehensive of what she could have thought would look good on me.

"Here, I'll leave you to get ready, meet you back up on the medical floor. The children are up with your Mom; she feels a little better after the treatment" Peeta says before walking back down to the main doors.

I pull on a white t-shirt with a Mockingjay symbol on its left shoulder and pants similar to Peeta's only a grey colour. I am actually surprised there weren't any luminous greens or oranges on them.

I make my way back up towards the medical floor thinking to myself that things surely must be getting better or at least back to normal. The children are safe, Moms on the mend and I still didn't lose Peeta. As I pull up the elevator gates I notice Cressida walking towards me, she is grinning from ear to ear. "I'll speak to you soon Katniss, I just need to help Effie out with a few things". Confused I carry on to where the recovery rooms are and spot my Mom and the children with Peeta.

Although I can see her sitting up in bed my mind still makes me take a deep breath before I push open the door, it feels strange that it's not me in the bed for once with her caring for me.

"My dear, have a good sleep?" She says in a perky voice. "I think maybe I did, considering the whole basement managed to leave without me even knowing. How are you feeling?" I reply "So, so, I am not in much pain but then they have been pumping me with Morphling" she says turning to Peeta.

My eyes begin to turn to Peeta; he clears his throat before moving his head in a prompt to make me follow him out of the room. I quickly look at the children to make sure they are ok and not causing Mom too much bother before turning for the door. Outside Peeta closes the door behind us.

"Katniss, the doctors wanted to speak to you but I said I wanted to let you know. I'm sorry but they haven't been able to do anything for her" he says in a voice barely able to speak.

"But they said they would try a few things on her?" I reply. "They wanted to but when they investigated further they found that if they attempted surgery she wouldn't make it. The damage is too great, I'm sorry Katniss" Peeta says.

"I don't understand, why are they keeping her alive then if they can't do anything" I say holding my emotions. Peeta leans forward and takes my hand before lifting it to his mouth and kissing it. "She wants to see us get married, that is if you still want to" He says. "When you fell asleep I went to see her, to ask her properly for her permission, she did actually say that I must be crazy, but she said yes" Peeta adds

My valiant attempts of stopping myself from crying are beginning to falter as a lone tear falls down my right cheek. "Of course I want to but we don't know how long she has?" I reply. "Everything is ready, we can have the wedding tomorrow, Effie got a load of 13 to help get a place ready, everything's set we just need a bride" he says.

I turn and push open the recovery room door and run over to Mom throwing my arms around her. In what will be my happiest day of my life will also be one of my unhappiest and I wanted to hold her forever. "Steady there Katniss" she says grimacing from my weight on her body. "I am glad you said yes, he really is a nice gentleman" she says kissing me on the cheek. "Just wait until you see the room, it's so beautiful" she adds.

"Can we go to the pretty room now, please" Rye shouts jumping up and down. I glance back at Mom and she nods her head. "Are you sure" I say looking at her. "I'm not going anywhere just yet" she replies.

Peeta and the children lead me out of the room and back towards the elevator. Peeta presses for it to go down and it comes to a rest at the hovercraft and ammunitions launch bay. "I don't understand" I say to Peeta as he pulls the elevator door up. In front of me is a massive black sheet that has been hung from the ceiling. As I am attempting to make sense of the whole thing I hear Effie's chatter getting closer before she appears around the side of the sheet.

"Katniss, I am so excited, I really hope you like it. Let's just say I got most of 13 helping out in some form or another, even Haymitch did a few things" she says giggling to herself. "Are you ready" she says touching my hand. I turn to her and nod and smile.

"Ok everyone, it's Showtime" she shouts. The black sheeting begins to fall from the ceiling into a heap in front of us. As my eyes readjust they focus on the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.

In front of me is a walkway made of what looks like marble raised a couple of feet off the floor leading down to where the hovercrafts would take off. Only there are none to be seen, in fact the room has been completely emptied of all the ammunition and replaced with white pillars with flowers wrapped around them spiralling down to their bases.

"Come, come" Effie says pulling me forward onto the marble surface. We walk down and I notice that the launch bay doors are open and there at the bottom is an alter with a white archway, on top a single Mockingjay statue holding a flower.

As we get closer rows of seats on either side facing the alter catch my eye, there is something around every one of them. "Primrose my dear, thousands of them" Effie says cheerfully.

It's overwhelming and desperately trying not to faint with happiness but as we reach the alter my eyes begin to flood with tears. The whole thing is overhanging the forests around 13, on each corner a water fountain creating a soft trickling sound. Birds in the sky the only other soundtrack to a breath-taking view. As my eyes are flicking from one thing to the next I see a picture that has been crafted into the alters post. A picture of Prim, I fall to my knees in front of it, Effie places her hand on my shoulder obviously feeling the effects of the experience herself. "We wanted to make sure she was here as well" she says.

I get up and turn and hug her, grasping her so tight I am almost stopping her from breathing. "Thank you Effie" I say. She pushes me away and looks at me straight in the eyes. "I said you needed to find the life of a victor and tomorrow you will begin it. For once everyone looking at you won't be doing it because you're the Mockingjay or a commander; they will be looking at you because you are beautiful and everyone _will _want to be you."

As I turn to look at Peeta I notice Haymitch holding a pure white wedding dress in his arms, standing next to him Beetee. I quickly walk over to them glancing at Peeta who is almost in tears himself with joy.

Then it dawns on me Beetee, standing. As I reach them I look at Beetee's legs. "I still need a walking stick every now and then but I thought if I can put those things in Peeta's trousers why not in my own legs" he says in way only he can.

I lean over and kiss him "Thank you for everything you have done for us Beetee, you have kept us alive" I say. Slightly embarrassed he steps back and says "No Katniss, you have kept us alive".

Haymitch holds up the dress "Effie spent hours with your mother to get it right" he says. It is amazing, I remember pictures of mother in her wedding gown and this looks almost identical, a slim fit with a long train at the back, sleeveless but with lace that falls down over the arms. "It's perfect, everything is perfect" I say jumping back into Peeta's arms.

"Don't forget the little ones" Effie says as Rye and Willow move around both dressed in light grey suits, Willow's with a skirt bottom. "It's going to be a good day tomorrow Mom" Rye says.

I look at Peeta and then the rest of the group "Yes it is, it's going to be perfect" I say.

After a short while we begin to head back to the main building for a meal, as we get to the elevator Haymitch jumps on with us.

"I thought this might happen Katniss and I think you know what I am about to say, although I wish I didn't have to until tomorrow but it won't wait" he says. "Why can't it wait then, surely one more day won't matter" I reply.

"The nation needs a President Katniss, even if it is only an interim period. The people have been voting and they want you as leader. Look, I am sorry to put this to you on the eve of your wedding day but I think you would be the best Panem could ever imagine and that's not me being a friend" he says.

"I will do it, but it will be on my conditions" I reply.

Haymitch almost looks shocked and begins to stare out at the masses of rock going past. "Katniss, I know you wouldn't have it any other way" he says.

Peeta stands there not saying anything, I have never spoken to him about the meeting with Joanus, but I know for Panem to change for the better I need to put actions in place and not leave it to someone who is guided by a rule book that is centauries out of date. There will be a time for that conversation with Peeta but there is no need now, at least until it's actually done.

We have our food before going to rest for the evening in one of the living areas that has been repaired. The children begin playing on their own and Peeta and I sit back on the chair together for the last time as fiancé's.

As the sun goes down I begin to get the children in bed, Willow so young has no real idea of what is happening or what tomorrow will bring but Rye is full of questions. What will it be like Mom, will we be getting a new house, can we have a dog are just a few thoughts from his precious mind. I simply smile to him before kissing his forehead as he lies down in his bed "It means we are going to be happy for the rest of our lives" I whisper to him.

As both Peeta and I are just about to settle ourselves for the night, actually quite early compared to the last week or so a knock at the door has me once again on edge. Peeta noticing me moving back from the door, goes over peers through the shutters and opens it. In walks Haymitch carrying a bottle of some sort. "I thought you both might like a night cap; you know before the big day. In days of old both men and women would go out separately before a wedding to close out them being single and it normally involved copious amounts of alcohol" he says before shaking his head "Boy they must have been great times" he adds.

"I'm fine with the water but you go ahead Katniss" Peeta says sitting back in the chair. I cautiously take the bottle from Haymitch and take a long drink. The taste makes me turn my nose up and almost causes my eyes to water. I have no idea what it is but it tastes more medical than alcoholic.

"You only drink when your worrying about something Katniss, I know that now" Haymitch says taking the bottle from me. "Well I have had a lot of reasons for it in the last few years" I reply.

"Ok, firstly I wanted to wish you all the best for tomorrow, I am sure it will be an enjoyable and memorable occasion but I guess you know that's not why I am here" he says leaning against the back of the chair Peeta is sitting on. Automatically I cross my arms and begin to frown at him. "The only time you come to me is for something you want me to do. I hope it isn't all bad news" I say.

"Ok I will get right to it, the districts have had a meeting and every one of them have agreed that you are the best person for the job of leading Panem. The bad news is you will be inaugurated the day after your wedding so any plans you had will have to be put on hold for the time being. After you are sworn in, you say your piece, you can pretty much go anywhere, anytime from then on" he says.

"Well I suppose I don't have much choice if all the districts are adamant that it's me they want to do their dirty work for them, put my head on the block" I snap back.

"No Katniss, you do have a choice, you can say no and go live a happy life with your new husband and children and leave all the troubles behind you. But I feel if you do the troubles will almost certainly return. What's happened with Joanus has just highlighted Panem's leadership faults, despite what the District commanders think the people want more transparency, they want you" Haymitch replies.

"You should do it Katniss; you can do it" Peeta says. He hadn't said a word since the discussions in the elevator and I am surprised he is actually going along with it.

"Haymitch, sit down" I command, Haymitch walks around the chair and sits down next to Peeta looking at me in some trepidation at the way I had asked him.

"When I was in the room with Joanus he showed me a book, it had signatures from Presidents of the past including Snow, Coin and Paylor. They were rules that every president must abide to, certain ways of doing things. I can't remember what was said, but I imagine as soon as I am sworn in I will be asked to speak with the other districts. They will want me to follow the rules" I say.

Both Haymitch and Peeta look at each other questioning what I had just said in their heads. Haymitch is the first to look back "Rules, in what meaning? What you should and shouldn't do?" he says. "Or what you do to Panem's people" Peeta adds.

"Both, there were some things written that I was disgusted by in just the few pages I had time to read before you blew the door Peeta" I say.

"If I am President, I have the right to change those rules and that is the first thing I am going to do, that is my condition" I add.

Haymitch stands back up and shakes my hand. "That's my girl, what's the point of rules if they can't be changed or broken; within reason of course" he says smiling. Having taken another drink Haymitch offers me the bottle once more, I decline. "I need to have a good head for tomorrow, I don't want to be sobbing the whole way through my own wedding" I say.

"Good point, guess I better get back to Effie or she will be sending out a search party". He begins to walk towards the door, he puts his hand on the handle "Let's just keep that bit between us three eh? No point in telling anyone before, they might change their minds" he says before leaving the room.

Peeta stands up, walks towards me and gives me one of the warmest hugs I have ever felt, one that only he could give. "Big day tomorrow" he says before taking my hand and directing me to the bedroom.

Lying in bed I hear Peeta breathing, it only took him a few moments to get to sleep, me on the other hand I am staring at the ceiling with so many things going through my head. Some thoughts of excitement, some of absolute dread.


	27. Chapter 27

Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 18

**Chaper 27**

When I awake not actually knowing what time I managed to get to sleep or in fact how long for, I hear lots of people moving around outside. I turn to look at Peeta but he has once again managed to get out of the bed without me knowing.

Pulling on my gown I walk into the main living area. In the middle of the table is a small flower pot with a Primrose flower in it. A note underneath reads: -

_Happy Wedding Day from your future husband, see you at 10am_

I look at the clock on the wall; it reads 8:45am, then I begin to panic just as there is a knock at the door. As I rush over to it I can hear Effie giving out commands to whoever she is with. Pulling the door open she is standing there with Flavious and Octavia. Before I can even say a word they are pushing themselves into the room "Come along, we need to be out of her in 30" Effie shouts. One thing I know is when Effie is controlling things they get done.

Within twenty minutes I have been washed, dried and had my dress fitted on me. After that with almost military precision my eyebrows plucked, my finger and toenails painted, make up applied, my hair styled. I stand there staring at the girl in the mirror, she is grown up and looks beautiful, that can't be me surely.

"Well I think we might have beaten our record people" Effie says clapping her hands.

"This is what I have lived for ever since you and Peeta in the first games, I knew I would be watching you two getting married and you look like a princess" she adds.

"It will be just like a Capitol wedding" Flavious says almost hopping on the spot. "We haven't been to one for so long Katniss, our services haven't been needed for a while" Octavia adds.

"Ok, I think it's time Katniss" Effie says opening the door. We walk out and members of 13 are stood in a long line leading to the elevator, they all begin cheering and clapping. For once I am glad there are no salutes or victory chants.

In my dreams I hadn't imaged going down in a metal elevator to my wedding, but then again I never thought I would be getting married. I was to unfriendly for anyone to like me enough. As we come to a halt on the launch bay I can see a crowd of people on both sides of the marble walkway all turning round and looking at me. As I put my foot on to the almost glass like surface music begins to play.

Instantly I recognise those four simple notes; rues whistle, only it has been accompanied by violins, harps and other instruments. Haymitch suddenly comes from the side and stands next to me offering me his arm. "I was wondering if I could do the honour?" he says. "I wouldn't want anyone else I say" putting my arm around his. We begin slowly walking trying to take in that everyone has come to see this and then I see him. Peeta dressed in all white standing proudly at the front. Then everyone gushes at the same time as though a tiny puppy had walked in, I turn around and see Rye and Willow standing there with huge smiles on their faces.

"Don't worry Katniss, she is good on her feet now" Haymitch says winking at Willow.

The walk to the front is a long one but I want to saviour every second of it, so it takes a while for us to get there. As we do I notice Mom sat a couple of rows back from the front, Frostine and Johanna either side of her. She smiles and waves as I continue by.

I reach the front, I take a big breath before focusing on Peeta, he looks everything I wanted him to be almost like a guardian angel sent down to love me. He takes my hand before whispering in my ear "Take a look at the front row; I know some friends who you would have wanted to be here but sadly can't".

I turn round to my right and there sat in the middle is Annie with her son, on her left a picture of Finnick and to her right another of Gale, Beetee and Cressida on opposite ends. I am almost biting my lip desperately not to show an emotion worrying that if I were to start I may never stop. Haymitch lets go of my arm and takes a seat next to Effie and I turn back to the front where an elder man stands holding a book of service.

He tells everyone to sit before looking at us both. "Thank you to everyone who is in attendance today for the wedding of Mr Peeta Mellark and Miss Katniss Everdeen. Sadly, not everyone can be with us, those who have been lost in the war, those who fell in the uprising and the victims of The Hunger Games. They all look down in spirit to witness, as all you will this great occasion. Firstly, before we proceed I need to ask if there is anyone who knows of any reason why this marriage should not take place today, please speak now".

As soon as he finished the sentence I hear a rather strange cough which makes me instantly turn around to Haymitch. He sits there with a grin on his face attempting not to laugh, despite this being one of the most stressful times in my whole life his inappropriate timing has me smiling. I turn back and glance at Peeta who is also trying in vain not to laugh.

The proceedings carry on with no further interruptions and shortly after we are Mr and Mrs Mellark, after we kiss at the end we are greeted by a huge firework display that has been set up outside in the forest of 13. As we watch I take a moment to look at my new husband, doing so makes everything about tomorrow a minor issue. I am now with the man I love forever and nothing else matters. After the formalities are finished I turn around to look back at Mom. She isn't there. I run across to Cressida who is pale and I can see she has been crying. "I am so sorry Katniss, she passed away during the ceremony. Frostine got her out but it was too late". She says wiping her eyes with a cloth.

"When, when did she?" I mumble under my breath.

"Just after you said your vows. She began crying, I leant over to her to ask her if she was alright but she closed her eyes and slid down off the chair, you were married at that point, she saw what she always wanted to" she adds.

I sit down in the chair trying to block everything out but the one thing that was playing in my mind is that she died happy, seeing me get married must have been the final piece, the last thing she wanted to see.

As the day goes on I begin to feel more positive and although there is dancing and food well into the night I decide to allow the others have the fun. It seems almost all of 13 is in the room with us. As the event begins to come to an end Effie walks over to us "Congratulations my victors, just before you retire for the evening I just wanted to make you are aware of your gifts, you nearly have one from everyone in here it seems. I will get them delivered to a spare room and you can open them after tomorrow" she says.

I look over and there is a huge pile of boxes all wrapped in different coloured paper complete with bows and ribbons. We begin to walk out of the room when I lean over and pull some of the Primrose from one of the chairs and smell it. "I did it Prim, I hope you was watching" I whisper to myself.

By the time we are back at our living quarters having said thank you and kissed so many people, I have no moisture in my lips and its well into the night. Peeta and I decide to go straight to bed particularly as tomorrow my status as Commander and Mockingjay will be gone forever. We both have a little cry over Mom but he helps me be strong and I fall asleep in his arms, the safest place on earth.

For the first time in a long while I am awake before Peeta so I quietly ease myself out of the bed to allow him more rest for a change. Having made myself a drink I sit at the table contemplating what I am going to say. I have no doubt I will be handed some form of script somewhere along the way but I don't necessarily have to go by it word for word.

I check the clock and its almost midday, I am surprised I haven't been collected already, there must be a whole host of people wanting to have their say before I actually stand there in front of the whole Nation. A few minutes later Peeta comes out from the bedroom, he is in his sleeping shorts. Wiping his eyes, he staggers over to the sink and knocks over some glasses in the process. Even in this state having just woken up I can't believe I am married to the man of my dreams.

Rudely interrupting my moment, the door is knocked, Peeta is in no condition to answer it so I pull my nightgown closed and open the door. Two men dressed in the official Panem military ceremony uniform stand in the doorway.

"Mrs Mellark, we have come to escort you to the command centre, Haymitch and a few other dignitaries want to speak to you prior to your inauguration" one of them says. For a moment I am wondering who they are talking about but it isn't long before I remember my surname change, although it might be a while before I respond to it.

"Just give me a few minutes to get ready and make sure the children are ok, I will meet you outside" I say ushering them out and closing the door. I wait a few moments before checking through the blinds, they are both positioned either side of the door. Either to make sure no one intervenes or stop me escaping.

After getting ready I check on the children, last night must have taken its toll on them as they are both deep in sleep. Speaking with the two men again I find out that the final process will take place where we got married last night at 1400 hours. Before I leave with them I tell Peeta to bring them as soon as they have got up and had a bite to eat.

The journey albeit not a great distance to walk was easy, I am not stopped once, perhaps people have forgotten the wedding already. As we enter the command room I take a moment to look around. Although some of the equipment has yet to be replaced it looks as though the room had been fixed completely. It bears no scars from what happened just a few days ago.

Haymitch promptly walks over to me and whispers in my ear "Just listen to what they have to say, you don't have to agree to anything but try not to say no too many times, ok?" he says.

I nod in agreement, he knows that it will be almost impossible for me to allow people to tell me what I can and can't do. The only person who could put me in my place was my Father and maybe Prim, sometimes I used to think she was the older one as she made so much sense all of the time.

The meeting lasted around an hour, I suppose that had I arrived earlier they would have had far more time to drill into me their ideals, I didn't really take any notice of them, my face must have been completely blank as I sat there, words just passing me by, every now and again I would say "Ok" or "I agree". None of the dignitaries were familiar I don't recall seeing them anywhere even on the video streams.

The end of the meeting is signified by everyone shaking hands and what seemed to be some form of strange ritual chant directed at me. I can see Haymitch in the corner of my eye desperately trying to make me look focused. Effie enters the room as the others filter out and hands me a formal dress. "I know it's not what you're used to my darling, it's just for the ceremony you can get rid of it after that" she says.

I move into an enclosed area to change, the dress is very bland almost the same as what I had to wear when Coin was in charge, very washed out and void of anything ladylike. From there I am almost whisked away back down to the Hovercraft bay.

It looks as though no one could be bothered to change the room around, everything is exactly the same apart from the chairs no longer have Primrose on them, the pillars have been removed and the plinth seems to have been replaced as Prim's face isn't looking out over the crowd.

I am fitted with a microphone piece which is fastened to my dress and people begin to file in from the elevator and stairwell before sitting down. All eyes on me once again only this time it's not vows I am exchanging.

I am not given any time to brace myself or formulate the words in my head into any thoughtful meaning. Just as I attempt to see if Peeta had managed to drag the children here an elderly gentleman walks over. He's dressed in the blackest of suits I have ever seen, on his sleeve rows and rows of medals. He must have been one of the original Capitol Military.

He stands looking at me before raising a book in front of him and turning to the crowd in front of us.

"I stand here today appointed as Congressional Committee Secretary by the citizens and districts of Panem to swear in Katniss Mellark as President of Panem. It is with huge regret that during the Precia conflict President Paylor lost her life in a selfless act of protecting her district. Our Nation cannot run without a leader and said person must be willing to go above and beyond their written duty to keep Panem safe and stable. A few days ago the leaders in each of the 13 districts along with the Capitol voted unanimously in favour of Mrs Mellark to be that person. So by the lawful powers I have been invested with. It's my pleasure to announce Mrs Katniss Mellark as President of Panem" he says.

"President Mellark, it is mandatory that the sworn in President give a statement of their intentions, please do so while placing your right hand on this oath" he adds before placing the book on the mantle and taking a few steps back.

Instinctively I look down before putting my hand on the book and see the writing on the cover

"Presidential inauguration ceremony oath"

"_Statim regulas sequi simper__"_

I feel like picking the book up and throwing it across the room but I don't need to let them know I have seen it, what it says and what it meant to Panem. I calmly rest my right hand on it clear my throat and look up to the people in front of me and the many cameras.

"I Katniss Mellark do solemnly swear to protect and serve my country. To administer justice and equal rights to anyone within its boundaries. I will carry out my duties according to the oath in front of me to the best of my ability. As sworn in President I will begin my reign with the following statement" I say.

I look across at the elderly man and he nods approvingly, however I am not sure his sentiments will last much longer.

"There have been many troubles in our glorious nation, through time it has seen many changes; some for good some most certainly for worse. Therefore, to make Panem a great nation; to make it stronger where every single one of its inhabitants has the same rights. I decree that from this point forward under my ruling Panem will no longer have a President. All 13 districts and the Capitol commanders or members with an equal or greater stature will form a new council as Senators. Together they will make the decisions to take Panem into a new era, one that is better for the future. I announce that district 13's new senator will be Haymitch Abernathy formulary of District 12. With this I am announcing my formal resignation of President of Panem". I quickly pull out the microphone from my dress and drop it onto the book.

I attempt to rush away from the stage but they weren't going to let me just slip away, after the entire nation is watching me. The elderly man quickly stands in my way but Haymitch comes to my rescue. "I am sorry as Commander of District 13 I am taking the former President away, no questions".

Haymitch, almost lifting me off my feet quickly rushes me down to the stairwell, as we begin to climb the steps he holds me back.

"What on earth was that Katniss, why can you never do things the simple way? I know you are probably the most unpredictable person I know, but really?" he says.

"Unpredictable, that's why I am still alive, you almost said that yourself remember" I reply.

He glares at me stopped in his tracks of striking up an argument against what I have just done.

"Look at it this way Haymitch, you get all the benefits of being the President but you have 13 others helping you out" I add smiling. This instantly changes his mood and he begins skipping up the stairs.

As we reach our living quarters Peeta and the Children are already inside, there's a group of people just down from us all gossiping whilst looking over at me, I just think to myself it's not my problem anymore and honestly it shouldn't have come to this in the first place.

Stepping inside the room Peeta comes up and hugs me and begins laughing. "I will never understand you Katniss, but I don't really want to, that's what makes you so special" he says.

Willow and Rye have managed to find Buttercup from somewhere and they are peacefully rolling a piece of paper between them, the stupid cat attempting and constantly failing to grab it.

"So Mrs Mellark, do you want to make a start on the gifts Peeta says" walking to the door. Excitedly I run over and push him out of the way. "Ladies first" I say running over to the room opposite. Quickly pulling the door open I walk in, there is only just enough room for me and Peeta to fit in, piles and piles of gifts.

"This might take a while" Peeta says picking up a box with bright red paper on it. "The children are happy, they are only next door, let's get started" I say

We lose track of time opening the seemingly endless supply of presents, it makes me think how many of these people have I spoken to, do they actually like us or are they just following their peers.

We are half way through, we have amassed at least 4 toasters, we have enough knives and forks to cater for the whole of 13 and a strange wooden object that neither of us has any idea what to do with.

Haymitch forces the door open through a pile of paper and pokes his head around the door. "I have some news for you two" he says. We both stand up and between the three of us manage to open the door wide enough for Peeta and I to get out.

"There have been a few discussions with regards to your statement and in light of your demands I have secured you a new home. It might not have the trees, flowers and wild dangerous animals that you like, but under the circumstances I think it is our only option other than you staying here, which of course you have no intention doing" he says.

"We want to leave as soon as physically possible, although we might need a truck to take all of this with us" I say jokingly.

"It better be big otherwise there won't be any room for the children" Peeta adds, my head flings round to look at him "Just joking Katniss" he says holding his hands up.

"Where?" I say.

Haymitch takes a moment, perhaps in preparation for the abuse he will receive if I do not like his idea.

"It's in the Capitol" I can already feel my face displaying a negative attitude which prompts Haymitch to speed up his delivery "Don't worry; it's in the North, a quieter area that was untouched in the uprising. It has been under 24-hour surveillance for the last couple of days. It has a garden and even a wooden fence at the front" he adds.

My initial reaction quickly turned to intrigue, I never got to see the northern area of the Capitol and I heard it is a beautiful place which was occupied by the richest of Panem.

"I want guards, at least for the next few months" I demand.

Haymitch nods his head in agreement. "Already thought of, I am getting used to my job fast aren't I. It's already been rigged up with surveillance, on the outside obviously. Any problems you will have direct contact with me" he says.

"Sounds great" Peeta says shaking Haymitch's hand. "When can we go" I add.

"As soon as you want, I have transport ready; it's just a couple of hours by truck. Unfortunately, there is no way we could put a hovercraft down, the people in the area would be livid" Haymitch says.

I look at Peeta for some sort of guidance and I see a young man almost acting like a child with a new toy and that makes my decision so much easier.

"Tomorrow morning" I say. Haymitch acknowledges and turns and walks back away down the corridor.

We both resume our unwrapping before heading back to our living quarters. We all have a grand supper of Veal and fried vegetables, spend an hour with the children before we all head off to bed for the night. I lie there in the quiet, Peeta not asleep but relaxed.

Do I need to tell him anything about what's happened? What really was in that book, everything Joanus said and that Fergus was a traitor all along. No everything's fine now that I have combined the districts as one council, no leader, no single point of failure. A new Panem, one Panem. I close my eyes take a deep breath and sigh with relief that it's finally over.

The next morning it was just a process of collecting what little we had before leaving. All our gifts had already been loaded on the truck and it was just a matter of saying our goodbyes.

Effie was sad once again but she said that she imagined she would be seeing a lot more of us now that Haymitch is Senator.

Cressida said that Johanna wasn't good at saying goodbyes and that she was relocating to the Capitol as well. She just needed a bit of time to reflect first.

Our friends during the whole episode, Frostine and Hilaka who had defected to Panem military were the only ones left from the beginning of our journey. They wished us well and we will all see each other again as soon as we can.

We left 13 unhindered, no one asking questions, no more goodbyes, no one revolting against my decision. Perhaps Haymitch had put out some form of request or perhaps no one is actually bothered.

When we arrive at our new house I am really happy, it's a grand looking place, 4 floors, small enough so that we don't lose each other, but large so that we are not easily found by anyone else. As I look at the front it reminds me of Snows mansion but on a smaller scale. There are window boxes on the downstairs although there are no flowers in there yet. I already know what will be planted.

We walk to the front door where two guards are standing, they open the door. "Good Morning Mr and Mrs Mellark, everything is in order" one of them says.

"Thank you" I reply and we begin to walk past them.

"Ahem, Mrs Mellark, you might be needing these" the guard says holding up some keys. I reach up and take them from him smiling.

Everything is perfect, a large open lounge with a fire which is already crackling creating soothing warmth, a huge kitchen with large stove and sink. Upstairs there are three main bedrooms on the 1st floor, two on the 2nd floor and what looks like a boardroom on the top floor, I already plan for this to be Rye and Willows room just for them to play in, away from the outside.

We go back downstairs and sit down on the chairs. Looking around I notice something on the fireplace a small box with an envelope. I walk over, it looks like another gift.

"Didn't we open them all" Peeta says putting his feet up on the chair. "I guess not, but how did it end up on here" I reply.

"Perhaps they saw it when they collected all the others, saw that we hadn't opened it and put it there so it wouldn't get lost" Peeta says. "I guess" I say confused.

I open the letter and fold open the white piece of paper. It has been handwritten.

"_Congratulations Mr and Mrs Mellark,_

_I am sorry I wasn't able to attend your wedding day; I think my invitation must have been mislaid somewhere._

_I just wanted to say how pleased I am for the both of you and your children, may your days together be peaceful and full of love._

_I am sure Peeta will be an excellent husband and I want to thank him for sparing my life in 13. Had he not have broken into that room I have no doubt you would have killed me._

_I hope you find the gift; a few of us got together and got it for you. Senator's I think you renamed them to, surprisingly five of them actually agreed with what you did and wanted to show their appreciation, hence the gift. We all hope you like it and have a great life here in the Capitol._

_Best Wishes_

_Joanus"_

I feel sick, I quickly turn my back to Peeta and drop the letter in to the flames and watch it as it burns away to ashes.

I pick up the box and pull off the green ribbon and lift the lid, inside a gold bracelet with yellow flowers around its edge. Picking it up I can see words engraved into its surface.

"_Statim regulas sequi simper__"_

I thought this place had been secured, I thought Joanus was gone. I thought things would be better now but it seems that Panem is now a place of lies, deceit and corruption. No one will ever be safe. It will never be safe; we will never be safe.

#


End file.
